Under the Bed
by GreenGiraffe256
Summary: AU. Belle was just a normal girl, who, like most people, didn't believe that monsters were real. However, this all changed when she realizes the guy she likes is really a cursed king from a world filled with magic and mystery. Can she survive being thrust into a war between those who want to protect people from monsters, and those who encourage their rampage?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello! Welcome to my story! It's been about 3 years since I wrote the first 8 chapters. I am now going back and trying to finish it, hoping that publishing it will inspire me to actually work on it. Sorry, the first chapter is pretty bad, so bear with me! It will get good soon. This is a very, very, loose interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

When I thought of Christmas, I tried to remember childhood. Even though it wasn't that long ago, it seemed like such a distant memory. I remembered decorating the tree with my mother, with the aroma of freshly baked cookies capturing the house. I remembered sneaking into my parent's closet with my brother, trying to find our presents. Then I remembered the days after Christmas, and feeling disappointed after two months of anticipation leading to a few pairs of socks and a bottle of shampoo. I was in the awkward age of late teens, when I didn't really have anything that I was excited about getting. I didn't make wishlists anymore, so my parents just got me a bunch of everyday staples that I would eventually need. Christmas just didn't seem worth it anymore. But in that moment, standing in Adam's doorway and looking around at all the townhouses extravagantly decorated with twinkling lights, there was a warmth that I hadn't felt since I was a child. I waited a moment to absorb the nostalgic opulence, then walked in with a gift in one hand and a batch of brownies in the other.

There were about fifteen people in the living room, playing some video game. I put down my present for the gift exchange we would do later, and watched the action. Adam and Larry, my ex boyfriend, were playing some virtual sword fighting game. They each held a controller in their hand that looked like a TV remote control with a light-up sphere on the end. The light on the end changed colors, sometimes being white, and other times glowing red. I figured that whenever the character was hit, their light turned red.

They looked kinda silly, swinging around their controllers randomly. I noticed that Larry's controller was glowing red much more than Adam's, and he didn't look happy about that. Soon, the fight was over and Adam yelled in victory.

"You're just too good at this," Larry said with a snarl. "I don't have one of these I can practice on everyday." If there was one thing Larry hated, it was losing. That's actually why we broke up, or why he broke up with me.

For those of you who have never experienced the alternate universe that is high school band, you have not truly lived. which might be a good thing. Most people think we were just awkward geeks, and to be honest, most of us were. However there were about fifteen exceptions, those being the fifteen people in that room. Sort of.

One of the most important things in band to realize quickly is that it is always a competition. In band, we are ranked by chairs, the best being first chair and the worst being last chair. At the end of every semester we have to play for our band director so that he can rank us. Chairs are everything, and you may think that you only have to worry about them twice a year, but you never get a day off. If you want to, you can challenge the person in the chair ahead of you and tryout again to steal their chair. If you show any sign of weakness, you will be attacked.

For example, sophomore year I got my wisdom teeth pulled over fall break. I made the mistake of sharing this information with Annie, my best friend. She was a flute, and I was a trumpet, so I didn't think it would have consequences. The different sections are like different countries and people stick mostly to their section. However, another thing that needs to be realized immediately is that your private life is not your own: it belongs to the entire band. There is no privacy and there are no secrets. My news spread quickly to the trumpet section, and they realized I would not be able to play at my best ability with my mouth in that condition. I was challenged viciously the day we got back from break and dropped down three chairs. I was not the only one with a story like this.

This is why intrasectional relationships never work. For the longest time, I was first chair and Larry was second, and eventually he just couldn't take it anymore and broke up with me. I was pretty annoyed, but it was probably for the best. I remained first chair, but it wasn't because of a lack of challenging from Larry.

"Who's gonna lose to me next?" Adam asked. There were no immediate answers.

"John?" Larry volunteered. John shook his head.

"I think I've lost enough today"

"You might win," Adam added. "You never know." John didn't look optimistic.

"Yeah, I do," John responded. "What about you, Belle. You haven't gone yet."

"Oh, I just got here though," I responded. "I haven't gotten to see you lose yet."

"Come on," Annie said. "We've all lost already, it's your turn now." I gave her a look, sarcastically thanking her. I reluctantly walked to the center of the living room. I might want to mention that I did have a small crush on Adam. He was a saxophone, so he was fair game. I couldn't act on this though, because like I said, band members do not get a truly private private life. This also means that if he felt the same way, I would know. And I haven't heard anything, meaning that I have about a zero percent chance. We've had our moments, but he just seemed reluctant. Probably just because of the band relationship horror stories. Or at least, that's what I told myself.

I got up and grabbed the controller and prepared for a devastating loss. It was a known fact that I was terrible at video games, so everyone knew this would be an easy victory for Adam "What exactly am I supposed to do?"

John, another saxophone player who was dating Ruby, a trumpet player, explained, "Just swing it around and try not to hit anyone in the face, well, except for Adam's character, of course." When he told me not to hit anyone in the face, he looked at Annie, who responded by smiling and giving an apologetic look, making me wonder what happened before I showed up.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked excitedly.

"Not really," I responded, but he started the game anyway. I wasn't exactly sure the best way to go about the game, so I just randomly swung the controller back and forth. I saw my light glowing red quite a bit, but didn't look at the screen. I was concentrating on not hitting anyone in the face like John warned. I noticed that Adam was giving more strategic, concentrated blows to my character, and I considered doing the same, but I didn't want to lose by too much, and I felt that if I actually tried, I would for sure. A few seconds later, the match was over.

"How did Belle win?" Sara, another trumpet player asked.

"I won?" I said in disbelief, then looked at the screen and saw my character standing victoriously.

"Are you sure you have the right controllers?" John asked.

"Hey," I started, "I am obviously a master at this game."

"You may have beaten me once, but you won't do it again," Adam said jokingly. My eyes met his, and silently said _it's on._

"Oh really?" I looked back to the screen to see round two starting. I mimicked my earlier strategy of randomly swing the sword back and forth as fast as possible. I probably looked ridiculous, but I figured that was expected of me. It served me well once, and could do it again. I didn't really think about what I was doing and just moved. A few seconds in, I did almost hit Ruby in the face. Oops.

I kept going. Adam is used to fighting people who somewhat know what they are doing and have a logical strategy. I didn't know what I was doing, so I almost had an advantage, however paradoxical that sounds. I looked up at the screen to see who was winning, but I didn't know how to interpret it. However, seconds later, the game ended, showing that I did somehow win. I mimicked the pose of my character, or at least tried to.

"How is Belle better than all of us?" Gully asked.

"She's not better than all of us, just Adam," John added. The room nodded in agreement.

"It's nice to finally have a worthy opponent," Adam said. The other occupants of the room seemed slightly offended, but from what I was hearing, they didn't have the right to be. I felt pretty good about my victory. I'm sure that no one saw it as a real victory because I wasn't really doing anything. But then again, I didn't even see it as a real victory.

"I wouldn't call myself that."

"Oh well," Dan, another saxophone player, chimed in from the kitchen. "Let's eat." No one argued with that proposal. He and Adam had been cooking since that morning because they didn't have exams. It was the last week of school, so most people had half days where students took two of their exams each day. However, those who had electives that didn't require an exam or a teacher that did not want to show up could leave early or come late, depending on what exam they actually had to come for, if they had one. Dan and Adam luckily didn't have to take either of their exams that day. The day after would be the last exam, but there was only one, and most of us didn't have to take it. I sadly did and was not looking forward to it.

We ate spaghetti and meatballs. Adam was very Italian and made everything from scratch, so it was absolutely delicious. Since there were so many of us, we ate at three different tables stuffed into the small hallway connecting the front door to the living room. It was somewhat cramped, but that just made it interesting. Gully was one of the slowest eaters I had ever met, so we were all finished when he was barely halfway through. Because we were so close, Dan from a different table could reach over and steal one of his meatballs. Gully was not happy with this, but we made him continue to eat instead of arguing so we could move on to the next activity in a timely manner.

With some help from the others, Gully finished his food, and in the next few minutes and we started the gift exchange. We had to do a Dirty Santa gift exchange, where everyone randomly picked a crumpled piece of paper with a number on it, then either picked a wrapped gift from the pile or stole an already opened one in order of the number they drew.

While Adam was writing down numbers on strips of paper to be crumpled up and put in a hat, the rest of us moved the presents to a pile in the center of the living room. Dan was shaking each of them.

"Be careful with that one," John said as Dan picked up one of the presents. "It's very, very breakable." Dan moved it to the pile without shaking it. Dan laughed a bit, like he knew what it was, making me slightly curious.

Since the party was planned a little last minute, only nine of us brought presents. "I bet I'm gonna get number one," Dan bragged. The person who receives number one gets to choose from all the open presents once all of them are opened, making it the best number to get. We all drew numbers, and I got number five.

"What did you get," Rachel, a clarinet player asked.

"I got nine," Ruby said, seeming a little sad.

"Why are you disappointed?" I asked. "That's like the best number to get."

"It is? I thought it wasn't."

"Do you want to switch?" Rachel asked. "I got number 2."

"Sure!"

"No!" I chimed in. "Do not switch with her. That's a terrible deal." They switched anyway. Rachel seemed pretty pleased with herself, and Ruby seemed really confused. I just shook my head.

"Who has number one?" Adam asked, starting the exchange.

"I do," Dan said confidentially. He probably cheated somehow, but I didn't say anything.

"Pick the bag with the penguin!" John urged. That was the present that he told Dan not to shake.

"I think I'll take my chances," Dan responded, rolling his eyes. He looked at each of the presents, then grabbed mine. He carefully tore off the wrapping paper, then smiled and looked at me. "You got this just for me, didn't you."

I smiled and responded. "Maybe a little." He held up the gift unwrapped, a package of two half pound Reese's cups that more resembled pies than candy because of their size. I wasn't sure how he was supposed to eat them, but that wasn't my problem. Ruby, being number two now, walked up and stole the Reese's cups from Dan.

"Really?" he asked, exasperated. "You know I'm just going to steal those from you at the end." He walked over to the present pile and grabbed another, ignoring John, who was vigorously pointing at the bag with the penguin on it. He sat down and opened it, then held up a small, stuffed Santa hat. He pressed a button on the side, and the hat moved back and forth and played "Jingle Bells." He didn't seem as pleased as he was with my gift, but he would have a chance to change that later.

"Who's number three?" Adam asked. Annie stood up and walked to the pile.

"Annie, here's what you are going to do, ok," John said. "You're going to look at all of these presents, then look at that beautiful penguin on that beautiful bag, and you're going to pick it up."

"No thanks," she replied, then stole Dan's singing Santa hat. John looked disappointed.

.

"Really? That wasn't even a good gift!" Dan exclaimed, then picked up another present.

"Why don't you just steal the Reces's back?" Adam asked.

"Because I'm sure it will just be stolen from me again." He opened the present, and held something up. To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what it was.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"It's a dinosaur bubble blower," he said somewhat confidently, like it took him a while to figure it out too. That made sense. It looked like a dinosaur on top with a tube of bubbles on the bottom. The bubbles shot out of the dinosaur's mouth. "Number four?"

"That's me," John said as he got up. I was surprised that he didn't take the penguin bag himself. He looked around the presents for a second, picked one up, then put it down and grabbed the dino bubble blower.

"Are you serious?! You're just doing this to aggravate me." There were laughs scattered across the room while he got up and picked up another present. He pulled a small box out of a bag filled with tissue paper. He opened the box and turned it upside down, causing hundreds of pennies to fall out onto the carpet. "Number five?"

I stood up. "If you steal my pennies, I will kill you."

"Don't worry, I have enough pennies." I walked over to the pile of presents. "I think I'll go with the penguin." John, Dan, and Ruby looked really pleased and laughed a little. I sat down and reached into the bag, somewhat scared to see what I got. I couldn't help but laugh as I pulled it out. It took me a second to come to terms with my present. Who would give this as a secret Santa gift? It was a goldfish: a live goldfish like you would get in a pet store. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I think you're supposed to put it in a fishbowl," John replied. Everyone laughed. I didn't think I had a fishbowl, so this fish would probably have a miserable life, if it lived past the party. "Number six?"

Larry got up and stole my fish. I was sad to lose my new friend, but happy it might have a better life. I considered stealing the pennies, but ended up opening another present. I got one of the bags and pulled out a small box that said "Hand Soap" on it.

"Open it," Annie instructed me. I opened the box to reveal a piece of soap that was shaped and colored like a hand. I was pretty pleased with this gift. It wasn't the best, but it was better than a box filled with pennies.

"Number seven?" I asked. Sara got up and also stole the fish, causing Larry to open another gift, revealing a copy of the constitution of the Confederate States of America. Adam got up right after, and opened another present revealing a small porcelain bunny.

"What is this?" He asked, closely examining the bunny.

"Press its back," Dan said. Adam did as he was instructed, and the bunny lit up. It was a night light, and probably plastic, not porcelain like I previously thought. "I found it in Walmart without a tag on it. The cashier said she didn't know what it was, but gave it to me for two dollars." Adam didn't seem too happy with his present.

"I can tell," Adam replied.

"I'm number nine." Rachel stole the Reese's from Ruby.

"Hey!" Ruby exclaimed. "Belle was right! You tricked me!"

"You should have listened," I scolded her. She sighed and opened the last present, revealing a rather expensive looking box of chocolates. Dan stole back the Reese's cups, sticking Rachel with the box of pennies, now scattered on Adam's living room floor. She was not happy, but she deserved it.

"Now what?" Adam asked.

"Now that it's dark, we could play hide and seek," John suggested. This was another difference between normal teenagers and band teenagers. Normal teenagers probably classified a party as a bunch of people talking, listening to music, and hopefully getting drunk. Band teenagers just wanted to play hide and seek, and maybe a board game.

"I don't know if there's enough room for everyone to have a separate hiding place," Adam responded.

"We could play Sardines instead," I added. We all agreed and started to play. Most of us stayed downstairs, while the one person who was "it," went upstairs to hide. The first "it" would be Rachel. The objective was to find Rachel and hide with her. The last person to find her would be the next "it."

A few seconds later, after giving Rachel a chance to hide, we all ran upstairs looking for her. We turned off all the lights so it would be more difficult to find people. Luckily, I knew Rachel enough to guess where she would hide. I went to the room farthest away from the stairs which happened to be a home gym. There was a closet in one of the corners, and I went there, expecting to see her, and I did. We were both quiet to not attract more people, but there were limited places to hide, and within a minute, most people had found us and were all struggling to pack into the closet. John was the last person to find us, and became the next "it."

The rest of us went downstairs. Because of the large group of people in a small space, the running around, and the fact that the heater was on because it was winter, it was getting very hot. Everyone took off their sweaters or coats. I had on a green tank top, a dark green scarf, and a grey sweater. I took off the scarf and the sweater, instantly relieving me of the heat.

"Should I take off my sweater?" Annie asked me.

"Oh yeah. Definitely."

"But the back is sheer." She was wearing a blue striped tank top covered in a dark blue sweater.

"It'll be ok," I replied. "It's too dark. No one will notice. And its way too hot in here to keep it on." She saw my reasoning and took off her sweater, then we ran back upstairs. I wasn't exactly sure where Gully would hide, but probably somewhere in plain sight. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the second living room that contained the staircase. I looked around the couch and the pool table, but he wasn't there. I went to the closest bedroom, but didn't immediately see him. At this point, several people would have already found him. I saw Adam in the room I was in holding his bunny light.

"I think that's cheating," I told him. I knew that he was most likely just putting away in his room, but I wanted to start a conversation while we were alone.

"Maybe," he replied. "But I'm probably going to lose anyway."

"Why?" I asked, moving closer into the room. "You know this house better than anyone else."

"Which only means I know the best hiding places, and those are the places I check first," he said, turning off the light. "The problem is no one else would think to hide in those places." It reminded me of that video game. Adam is the only one who actually knows what he is doing, but those who don't somehow have an advantage.

"Especially John," I joked. He laughed a little, moving closer towards me. Well, me and the door, but I can dream, can't I? "But I suppose standing here doesn't help either of our chances."

"That's a good point." We quickly headed out of the room. His hand lightly brushed mine as we moved. I knew it was a little foolish of me to take notice of this, but I couldn't help it. How was I supposed to concentrate on the game when I was preoccupied with the feeling of his soft hand on mine and his mysterious eyes almost gleaming in the darkness. I moved on to the next bedroom, and he went the other way. I was almost disappointed that he went the other way. A part of me wanted us to find John together so that we could stand in a crowded closet close together, where maybe our hands would have crossed paths again, but I needed to stop thinking like this. I knew we would never have anything together, but I let myself believe for some reason.

I was getting concerned because I didn't see anyone else in the next room or in the halls. I was pretty sure I lost that round. I went into the next room, a bathroom, and still didn't find anyone. I didn't see Adam in the halls, so I guessed he didn't lose. I went into the bedroom he walked into and found everyone. I lost, of course, so everyone else went downstairs again.

I wanted to hide in a place where it would take everyone a long time to find me. I went into the farthest bedroom from the stairs and hid underneath the bed. Once someone found me, they probably wouldn't fit under the bed, and we wouldn't stay hidden for long. I thought there should be some time before that, so I hid there anyway.

Annie, knowing me too well, and found me about a minute later and slid under the bed. "They're all very confused," she said quietly. I was about to reply, when someone walked in. I was pretty sure it was Adam by his shoes. The shoes looked around a little, then moved to the bed. I thought we were caught. There was no more room under the bed, so if he found us, the search was as good as over. I fully expected to see his hand lift the bed skirt, revealing our hiding spot, but that was the farthest thing from what actually happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was falling. It was so quick, if I blinked I wouldn't have noticed I was falling at all. A moment later, I stopped. It took me a moment to reorient myself. I felt the ground, and it was soft, light, and very cold. I pushed myself up to see that it was snow. Being in a tanktop and jeans in what looked like deep snow wasn't what I thought it would be. It was cold, but not bone chilling. The breeze made me shiver, but I didn't feel like I had to find warmth immediately. It was almost refreshing. Clean and soft, the snow wrapped around me like a blanket and almost gave me the warmth that a blanket would. Maybe I was still in shock.

I stood up and looked around to see where I was. Nighttime blackened the sky, but the trees were somehow illuminating the forest. The leaves seemed to glisten in the light of the stars and mimic their majesty. A wave of awe crashed over me, but Annie yelling for my attention broke the trance.

"Where are we?" She asked. Wherever, I almost felt safe here, the opposite of what I should have been feeling. Annie obviously did not feel the same way. I felt warm, but we were both shivering.

"More importantly, how did we get here?" I replied. I saw something coming in the distance. For such a dense looking forest, I was surprised I could see as far. I didn't have the best eyesight, but I was pretty sure there was a sleigh heading towards us. I couldn't see very well, but it looked like at least three men driving two or so horses. "Maybe they can tell us."

"Didn't anyone tell you not to talk to strangers?"

"I think this is a valid excuse to break that rule." She was about to object, but the sleigh approached us and stopped. There were three men in a brown wooden sleigh drawn by two white horses that almost disappeared in the snow. One of the men stepped out of the sleigh and came towards us. He was maybe a year or two older than us, and I couldn't say that he wasn't pretty. He looked friendly enough, but still harsh. The other two were older, worn with age and marked by thick beards and even harsher expressions. Annie looked at me like we needed to get away as fast as possible, and I didn't fully disagree.

"Stranger danger," she whispered. I looked at her condescendingly.

"What are you two doing out here alone?" the man asked.

"Not really sure," I replied and looked at Annie. "We were kinda hoping you could help us with that." The man looked at the other two and said something aside to them.

"We shouldn't talk to strangers," Annie said aside to me.

"Do we really have a choice?"

"Yes!"

"Really? Because from my perspective we randomly appeared in a snowy forest and left everyone behind at the party to think we're just hiding. Do you want them looking forever?"

"I'm sure they've given up by now."

"If they haven't called the cops already." The man looked at us and we halted our conversation.

"Well, anyway, do you need a ride somewhere?" he asked. "There's plenty of room on the sled."

"Sorry," Annie answers. "We're really not supposed to talk to strangers." She looked at me, ordering me not to contradict her. It probably was too much to accept their ride anyway.

"But I'm not a stranger," he replied.

"Oh really?" I asked, intrigued, sort of.

"Yeah."

"Where have I met you?"

"I'm sure I've seen you once upon a dream or something like that."

"I don't think I remember this dream."

"Well! I'm deeply hurt by this."

"You'll get over it. Eventually."

"I don't know if I ever will."

"You could always try to refresh my memory."

"To be honest, I'm a little fuzzy on it as well."

"Well now I'm offended."

"I guess now that we have something in common, you can't mistake that we're not strangers."

"I don't know about that."

"Why not?"

"I don't even know your name."

"And I don't know your's, but that doesn't mean we're strangers."

"I'd say that's almost the definition of stranger."

"Then I'll just have to get you a better dictionary."

"I think mine is perfectly alright."

"Is it? Is it really?"

"Of course it is."

"Maybe you're just not reading it right. If you were, you'd know that we are, in fact, not strangers."

"Maybe you're just reading yours wrong."

"Perhaps," he paused for a second. "But it doesn't matter, because I do know your name."

"What is it?"

"Well you already know that."

"But you don't."

"I just told you that I do! Do you not trust me?"

"Why would I?"

"Because I'm a very trustworthy person."

"Prove it."

"Alright, I will. Get on the sleigh, and I'll take you anywhere you need to go."

"I don't know..."

"You'll freeze if you stay out here. That is, if the monsters don't get you."

"Monsters?" Annie finally chimed in. "Really?"

He paused for a while and just looked at us. "You two aren't from here, are you?" His tone shifted to a lot darker one with much more concern.

"Where exactly is here?" I asked.

"It's hard to explain, but I should probably do it someplace... safer."

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us what is going on," Annie argued sternly.

"Look," he started, "if they find out you are here, you won't survive long."

"Who are they?" I asked.

"The monsters," he said with a completely straight face. Annie and I gave each other a look, asking each other if this guy was crazy, or if he just thought we were stupid.

"I think you should leave," I said to the man. I suddenly heard something behind us and the man's gaze shifted away from us.

"It's been a while," the man said, probably to whoever was behind us, "Adam." I turned around to see Adam standing behind us. Relief flowed through my body.

"About eight years, hasn't it been, Gaston?" Adam asked.

"I suppose so," the man, Gaston, responded. I could feel the tension between the two. Adam walked closer, standing in line with Annie and me. The two in the sleigh stepped down and bowed. Why? He looked at me apologetically, like he made a huge mistake letting us come here. "Are you staying?"

"No," he replied quickly. He waved, signaling the other two up.

"Do you need a ride to the castle?" Gaston asked, throwing me off guard.

"I think I'll be ok," Adam replied. This wasn't the Adam I was used to. The Adam I knew was kind, playful. This Adam was cold and defending.

"And them," Gaston said, signaling to Annie and me. Adam took another step forward.

"Their with me," Adam told him, making sure he understood not to mess with us. These two obviously had a history, and I was guessing it didn't end well.

"Alright," Gaston said with a smirk as the three got back on the sleigh. "If you two ever need anything here, I'll be happy to help." The sleigh flew away, seeming to greatly calm Adam.

"Are you ok?" he asked us.

"Yeah, we're fine," Annie answered, seeming just as confused as I was. Although by the look of her, she was about to freeze.

"Where exactly are we?" I asked. "And how are we going to get out of here?" I gestured to point out the entire forest around us. I was glad that he was normal Adam again, but he did give up the only way I could see to get out of the forest. I might have said I felt warm here before, but that was fading fast. We were Alabama girls, and snow was far from a regular occurrence. He just looked at me for a second like he had no idea what to tell me. This would be something very difficult to explain rationally.

"I'll explain on the way," he said as he paced around the forest and looked up at the trees. "It has been a long time since I've seen this place. I hope I still know how to do this."

"Do what?" Annie and I asked in unison, but there was no answer. He was too concentrated on whatever he was trying to do.

"Stand back," he told us. He clapped his hands, and a sled appeared in front of us. And I don't mean was driven in front of us, it just appeared out of no where. Adam seemed very pleased with himself. It wasn't as big and fancy as Gaston's, but it looked like it could get us safely to civilization. "Get in."

Annie and I stared at each other, wondering what just happened. This wasn't something that Adam could just hide in his sleeve and let out at the right moment like magicians do. This was no trick. Something really, really odd was going on. We quickly got in the sleigh, eager to get out of the snow. Adam got on the sleigh and took the reigns, and we didn't have another option. My confusion grew and grew, and I didn't know if I wanted answers.

"Where are we going?" Annie asked as we walked into the sleigh. The sleigh pulled forward, and there was no answer from Adam. I wondered if he didn't hear the question, or just didn't want to answer it. We moved in the same direction as Gaston did minutes before.

"I'm going to tell you everything, but you have to believe me instantly. You can't question me. Just, please keep an open mind. Look around and remember the past twenty minutes of your lives and use that as proof. I have no reason to lie to you." It seemed that he had a very interesting explanation, and I thought this couldn't be explained with something reasonable. "Promise me now that you won't say a word until I'm done."

"I promise," I said immediately, knowing that he was having a hard time telling us this. A few moments passed, and Annie didn't say anything. I elbowed her. She looked at me, and I gave a stare ordering her to promise.

"I guess I also promise." I smiled in victory, anxious to hear his explanation.

"Good. So where to begin. . ." He thought for a second while I examined the world around us. It might have been terrifying, but it was also beautiful. Somehow, the snow avoided the trees and let their leaves sparkle unobstructed. They were like prisms, neatly arranged on the trees to shine as bright as possible.

"You know how children are afraid of monsters hiding under their beds? Well, this is where they come from; all of the monsters live in this world." Of course I doubted this. How couldn't I? But there were more far-fetched things where I was. Gaston said something about monsters also, so either they were both in on a very bad joke, or he was telling the truth.

"When someone believes that there are monsters are hiding under their bed, this portal appears, allowing the monsters to enter and attack the child. There was a portal under my bed because I was born in this world, so I can't stop believing that those monsters are real, making my portal never go away." Why did he come to my world if he was just going to have to live with the monsters wherever he went? And what about Annie and I? Will we have portals under our beds now that we believe? Did I even believe?

"People also inhabit this world because sometimes children are taken from their beds and dragged into this world. Some monsters don't care about consequences of parents missing a child and just leave them in misery, but others conceal their actions by killing the whole family, like burning the house down, or making the parents forget they ever had children." This sounded really harsh. If a child believes in monsters, not only will they be abducted, but forgotten, or their family is killed. No matter what happens, the fate for the family is terrible, maybe even worse than for the child.

"Some of the children taken were thankful that they were taken from their old life, and some wished it never happened and try to prevent other children from sharing their fate. People like Gaston are monster hunters and try to kill the monsters before they can abduct children. Those who are grateful for being abducted fight against us because they want every kid to have the chance to escape earth." So this means Gaston and Adam were both trying to stop the abductions. But if they were on the same side, why did they hate each other so much?

"How long has this been going on for?" I asked. I knew I wasn't supposed to say anything until he was done, but he seemed about done. What else could there be?

"Abducting has been going on forever, or since beds were invented I suppose," he replied. "The conflict between those who hunt the monsters and those who ally with them has only been going on for a hundred years or so. Actually, my ancestors were the first to do something about the abductions. Before that, everyone was too scared to fight the monsters."

"Is that why those two bowed to you?" Annie asked.

"Yes," he answered. "My lineage kinda makes me a king here."

"What about Gaston?" I asked.

"Yeah," Annie chimed in. "What's up with you two?"

Adam sighed. "We used to be friends. Best friends. When I decided to leave, he was not happy. We got into a fight and just left each other mad."

"It didn't seem like just a fight," I pointed out.

"I guess time just pulled us apart." I didn't ask again; it seemed like a sore subject. We were almost out of the forest anyway. We entered a medieval looking village. Of course it wasn't normal. Apparently normal wasn't a thing there. It seemed like it got colder the farther away from the forest we traveled. In the distance was a fantastic stone castle. I had a feeling that was where we were going.

"Is that your house?" Annie asked, pointing at the castle.

"Yeah."

"Why did you ever want to leave a place like that?" she asked. "I mean, your other house is cute and everything with the Christmas lights, but that just looks a little more... roomy."

He laughed a little. "I guess it is now that you mention it. I didn't want to leave. When I was ten, a crazy witch tried to end the war, so she attacked the castles of both sides, accidentally killing my parents in the process. She only meant to curse both ruling families, which she did successfully." I originally disbelieved the story, I mean, witches, curses, these things don't exist. But why would he make up a story like this? And I did just see him pull a sleigh out of thin air, so why should these things not exist? I put my hand on his shoulder sympathizing for him. "After this, my brother didn't think it was safe and told me to leave. I always meant to come back after I graduated from college."

"What's the curse?" I asked.

"It's not important." I dropped it there. I would usually dig more for an answer, but I didn't want to pry now. He didn't have to tell us everything that he did. He knew it would be hard to make us believe, and I still wasn't sure that I did. I followed his advice and looked around. The villagers were wearing very simple clothes and living in wooden and straw houses. The streets were paved with rough stone and covered in snow. Clothes were drying on clotheslines. There was a horse outside almost every house. This was obviously not America, and I couldn't travel this far that fast without some unexplainable force.

Seconds later, we arrived at the castle. He stepped out of sleigh, and Annie and I did the same. As we stepped out, the sleigh disappeared. I guessed our use for it was over and it returned to wherever it came from. Two men in full iron armor opened heavy looking wooden doors leading into the castle. The castle seemed bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, and it looked huge on the outside, even though I had only seen one room. A few yards in front of us was Gaston talking to a man who looked like a slightly older, bearded version of Adam. He was maybe two or three years older than Adam, but much more worn. Gaston was no longer wearing his thick fur coat, but just a simple cotton tee shirt that revealed just how muscular he really was. The other man was wearing similar clothes, and looked just as good.

They must of heard us walk in, because they turned to us. Gaston's eyes locked on me, while the other man I guessed was Adam's brother's eyes wandered, landing mostly on Adam in disbelief, and on Annie as a close second. They walked over to us, and we did the same.

"Brother," the other man said to Adam, "it's good to see you." It wasn't the warmest welcome, but what can you expect from someone who sent his brother away for this long?

"You as well." Adam looked genuinely happy to see his brother, and I was happy for him.

Adam's brother turned to Annie and me. "I'm Caleb, Adam's bother. Feel free to make yourselves at home for the duration of your stay." He turned his attention back to Adam. "Adam, can I talk to you? Privately? Ladies, Gaston will take you to change clothes. N-not that the ones that you have aren't beautiful on you, but I think you might be more comfortable in something... warmer."

"We understand," Annie said as Gaston led us upstairs.

"How are you liking the city?" Gaston asked, his charming eyes locked on mine.

"It's very different than where we're from," I responded.

"I bet it is."

"How long do you think we will stay here?"

"I'm not sure. Caleb will fill you in on the plan later."

"Does this kind of thing happen often?"

"Not as often as you would think. It's been about five years since the last incident."

"What happened with them?"

"Well, you see, most don't get found as quickly as you were."

"What happened?"

"He might have died."

"I guess it's lucky that you did find us."

"I'd call it skill myself."

"Really?"

"Of course! If I had this job back then, I bet he would've survived."

"So you think you're some kind of a hero."

"I don't think I am a hero, I am a hero. No doubt about it."

"Whatever you say."

"It's true. I'll have to prove it to you sometime."

"I'll be waiting."

"You won't be waiting for long."

"I won't hold my breath."

"Well heroic act number one is safely getting you to your rooms." He gestured to two doors. "Clothes will be in the closets. Come down whenever you're ready."

"Can't wait to see you again," he said to me.

"I'll be counting the moments," I answered sarcastically. He left, waving farewell.

"I think he likes you," Annie informed me.

"I think he might just like being arrogant," I replied. "Do you want me to get you before I go down?"

"No," she answered. "I think you need some time to talk to Adam alone?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"I think you know," she said as she gave a mischievous smile. I laughed.

"You have been in band way too long. And if anyone needs some alone time, it's you and Caleb."

"You're probably right. About band, not Caleb. I literally met him two minutes ago." She might have a point, but I'm not going to give her a break. Band has made me too nosy, also.

"Alright. I'll see you soon." I walked into my room, happy that I finally had some time to think.

**A/N Congratulations for getting this far! Please comment if you have questions or suggestions. My plan is to upload the 8 chapters I already have completed once a day for the next six days. After that, it will probably be pretty inconsistent uploads, unless your comments give me a surge of inspiration. Hope you are enjoying it!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I just had a lot dumped on me, and I felt like I should be freaking out. Maybe I was, and I just wasn't showing it. None of it felt real. I somehow fell into a magical world where monsters apparently come from, and I apparently just went along with it. It felt more weird to realize that I believed all this than it felt to actually be here. I always wanted more adventure in my life, but this might have been a little too much.

I was freezing, so the first thing I did was walk into the closet to get a change of clothes. In the closet, there were only long, fancy dresses. I supposed that the whole place had a medieval feel, so maybe pants weren't really proper for ladies. I would usually never wear a dress, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

I grabbed a green, floor length, V neck dress with sleeves barely wider than my tank top. It had intricate, black beading around the front and back. It wasn't all that warm, but it seemed consistent with palace style. When I put it on, I felt somewhat ridiculous. Normal people don't wear stuff like this everyday. But here, there seemed to be a different normal, and I had no idea what it was yet. I did look beautiful in the dress. I'm not usually vain, but I accredited my beauty mostly to the dress, and less to my body. I was just simply a very complicated hanger for a work of art to hang on.

It wasn't the most comfortable thing either. In a place like this, it was probably handmade. This made me appreciate it more, but it didn't make it softer. I didn't want to rush downstairs immediately, but I didn't want to miss anything. I started through the hallway and headed to the staircase anyway. I needed more answers, and I wanted Adam to see me in this dress. I might have not liked it, but I did look good in it. There might have been some truth to what Annie said. I planned to use the whole "damsel-in-distress" situation in whatever way I could.

I walked down the stairs slowly, trying to give Adam a little more time with his brother. As I got closer to the bottom, I noticed Gaston talking to one of the guards, who left the castle quickly as they finished their conversation. I remembered what he said about the last people who accidentally wandered into this land. I really hoped that this place wasn't as dangerous as he made it out to be. He was a monster hunter, so he saw the worst parts of that world. I thought maybe the rest of it wasn't that bad.

He walked away from the staircase, then must have heard me coming down, because he turned back to me. For the first time since I met him, he didn't say anything. He just stared at me. Eventually, I was at the bottom of the staircase and had to talk to him.

"Don't say it," I said.

"Don't say what?" he asked, not at all needing an answer.

"Whatever you're thinking."

"Well then I won't think it, I'll just say it. You look almost as beautiful as I do."

"How sincere."

"That's the nicest compliment I've ever given to anyone."

"Then you have a problem."

"I wouldn't say that."

"What would you say?"

"That I don't give people the false hope that they will ever be better than me."

"You're so considerate."

"Of course I am. I'm the paragon of all wonderful traits."

"If I could just be half as wonderful as you, I would feel so complete."

"That would be quite a feat, but I suppose I could give you a few pointers."

"I would love to hear your sage advice, but I really do need to find Adam." He frowned.

"Of course you want Adam. You know he can never love you, right?"

"What? I don't, I mean, I'm not-"

"Nevermind. I shouldn't have said that. Just, ask Adam about the curse before you get too invested."

"Sure. So where is he?"

"Oh, right. He's talking to Caleb in the throne room down the hall. You can't miss it."

"Thanks," I said as he walked up the stairs. I was very caught off guard by that conversation. Now, I was really curious about the curse, but I had a feeling Adam wouldn't tell me. Maybe I could ask Caleb, or get Annie to ask Caleb. Either way, if I didn't find out soon, I might have exploded with anticipation.

I thought I found the throne room. It was the only room on the hall that had two doors, and they were larger than the doors leading to the other rooms. I could hear them talking from outside. I didn't want to interrupt, but they might have just been catching up with trivial conversation. I didn't know if I should knock, go in, or just wait. I decided to eavesdrop to see what they were talking about. I told myself that I was checking to see if they were done with their super secret brother only talk or not, but I think I was hoping that they wouldn't be and I would get to hear some of it. I would usually respect their privacy, but I needed answers. I thought I had a right to know some things, and knew Adam would never tell me.

"Adam, you know that's not possible," I heard Caleb say.

"I know, but it really feels true."

"You're just confused. You've lived in that world too long. It has given you false hope."

"It is said that the curse will be broken, and I think it has been." This gets my attention. The curse is broken? This should have meant something to me, but I didn't know the impact of it.

"That's nothing but a foolish fortune teller's greed talking." I could hear Caleb's voice filling with irritation. He really did not want to believe what Adam was saying.

"You don't know that! Dominick sure thinks it is going to happen." I didn't even have to put my ear to the door anymore, I could hear everything just fine inches away. They were full out yelling at each other.

"Which is another great reason not to make claims like that. If he finds any reason to believe the curses can be broken-"

"He won't react to anything I say. He's worse than you." Who is this Dominick? The other king? Caleb sure seemed to fear him.

"Which is a good thing in this situation." There was a pause in the conversation. Adam was running out of arguments.

"Come on. I saw how you looked at Annie today. Are you sure there isn't a small chance?"

"She is slightly pretty, but that doesn't come close to-" he paused, stopping himself. I planned to use this information very carefully, though. "That doesn't matter. We'll talk about this later, when you return for good. For now we need to work on damage control and getting you and your friends back to earth."

I decided to stop listening. Their interesting conversation seemed to be ending, and I did not want to be caught eavesdropping. Also, I wasn't getting the answers I needed. All I got were more questions. I didn't know if I wanted to walk in immediately, or wait a minute to let them get started on a conversation I knew nothing about so it wouldn't seem like I was eavesdropping when I entered. I didn't know what the protocol here was. Should I knock? Should I get someone to announce me? Should I just walk in? No one else was around, so I just walked in. I figured if it wasn't proper, Adam would be able to forgive me pretty easily. I smoothed out my dress, took a deep breath, and opened one of the doors.

"Belle, we were just talking about you," Caleb said. Adam elbowed him, punishing him for something he didn't want Caleb to say. I was slightly confused, hearing their conversation, but figured it was something they said before I showed up or after I stopped eavesdropping. Adam stared at me for a while.

"You look," Adam started, but was unable to finish.

"Almost as good as Gaston," I continued for him. He laughed. "I've already been told."

"You took the words straight from my mouth," he replied. "But really, you look great. Don't mind Gaston; he's an idiot."

"I figured." He laughed again. "So what's the plan?"

"Don't worry about it," Caleb answered. "You'll be home before you're missed." I remembered that I was still supposed to be hiding. It has been oven an hour. Either they just thought I was a really good hider and Adam and Annie were really good at finding people, or they figured we've been attacked by a serial killer. This would take some serious explaining, or more like some serious lying.

"How are we going to explain this to everyone at the party? And more importantly, how am I going to explain this to my parents?" For the first time since I got there, I was seriously worried about what would happen next. None of this really seemed real, so I was almost carefree, like the whole thing was just a dream that would be insignificant when I woke up.

"Don't worry," Adam tried to reassure me. "I'll come up with something." My worry didn't totally disappear, but I trusted Adam.

"All we have to do before you can get home is find a portal to take you back in. You might be home before the party is even over." Good.

"Why can't we just go back through Adam's room?" I asked.

"Well, if the police are at his house, it would be very hard to explain how three missing people just randomly showed up again," Caleb explained. This ruined all my hope of everything being normal. I would never be able to leave my house again. Even when I should go to college, I would be sitting in my parent's house grounded. Even when they died, they would put a shock collar on me, preventing me from leaving their house. I might have been overreacting a little, but I think I had a right to. "We just need to find a hotel that a kid slept in recently. It'll all be ok."

I still was not reassured. I took this worse than I did the news that monsters are, in fact, real, which is saying something. "It really will be ok." Even Adam couldn't make me feel better. "Remember how I said monsters sometime make parents forget they ever had kids?" I nodded. "We can do the same things to your parents and the police to make them forget there ever was a party. If things are really that bad, we can fix it."

"Then why can't we just go to your room now, and do that if the cops are there?" I asked. Adam and Caleb looked at each other.

"It's somewhat of a last resort," Caleb clarified. "It's hard to do, and sometimes-very rarely-has serious consequences. But only on people that we've done it to several times, like the police. Your friends and parents will be fine if we have to do it." The future seemed a little better, but I just wanted to get home and fix this before it had a chance to became a problem.

"So, we are going to find a hotel bed?" I asked, somewhat trying to change the subject. Adam nodded. "How long do these portals stay?"

"As long as the last person who slept in it believes in monsters. So for the hotel, we just need to find a bed that the last person who slept in it is someone who believes in monsters." Adam explained it so calmly, so matter-of-factly like it was such a simple practice. I guess that's what happens when you grow up with that as normal.

"Speaking of bed portals," Caleb started, "you won't be able to sleep in a bed for a while, or else a portal will open. Not for long, though. After a week or two of sleeping on the floor, all the monsters will forget you ever came here and will have no reason to bring you back. They don't usually go for the older kids because they're harder to abduct." I wasn't sure how I felt about sleeping on the floor, or having a portal under my bed. What if I ever had kids? Would they be in danger from monsters coming out of my bed to take them?

"It's probably not necessary anyway," Adam added. "Just a precaution. Monsters are stupid. If we get out of here soon, they probably won't realize that we know each other, and they will have no reason to attack you. They also don't like to work hard. They go for the babies that are easy to carry. Even if they had reason to attack you, they probably wouldn't anyway." He made me feel a little better. His smooth, deep voice helped to distract me from the real problem.

"Have you ever been attacked? Lately, I mean." He did not look like he wanted to answer this question.

"Well, I'm a king. They're ordered to attack me." He didn't want to answer the question, and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer. He had to deal with this every night. When he left, he only left spatially. His problems stuck with him.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm used to it." Why did he have to go through this? He deserved better.

"Wait. If you can mess with people's memories, can't you just make me forget this little adventure and the existence of monsters?"

"I wish," Caleb complained. "We've tried, but it drives people insane. They start seeing monsters everywhere and usually have terrible nightmares. People end up just believing in monsters, but believing from a mad house." It seemed like whenever Caleb opened his mouth, all of Adam's reassurance diminished

"It shouldn't be that hard to adjust," Adam put in. "But you might want to sleep with a knife near your bed just in case."

"You're kidding." He wouldn't tell me this. Not now.

"Of course he is," Caleb countered. "Never sleep with a knife. Monsters are drawn to conflict. That will just give them a reason to attack you."

"But you said they were lazy!" I exclaimed. "No, you're lying."

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't." I shook my head at Adam.

"You two are too much." Adam smiled and gave a little laugh. They were greatly enjoying this. I was glad that they were acting like close brothers. Plus, it did help me get the danger off my mind. The truth is that I was a little overwhelmed. I needed my Adam to be earth normal to help me get through this.

Before they could say anything else, a loud alarm went off. "What is that?"

**A/N And that concludes chapter three! This is the last chapter where nothing really happens, and I'm really exited for the next few chapters. I just finished chapter 9, and I can't wait for you guys to read chapters eight and nine, and for myself to write chapter 10. Aha, chapter 10. probably one of my favorites. **

**Anyway, I hope you are enjoying, and thank you so much for sticking with what has been a pretty slow story for so long! Can you guess what the curse is? I think it is incredibly obvious, but then again, I wrote it. Have a nice day!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"A warning alarm." Caleb said it like the sky was falling. "Stay with her. Don't leave the throne room. I'm going to see what is going on." Both Caleb and Adam looked like something was seriously wrong. Caleb walked to the large doors with a purpose. However, before he reached them, both doors flew open. The problem came to us.

Five guards came in with swords drawn. Two of them were holding a three foot, green, scaled creature back, and it was fighting to get free. It looked vicious, but the guards had it under control. This must have been one of the monsters everyone was talking about. He- it?- didn't look so bad.

"This one was with about twenty others leaving the castle," one of the guards not holding the monster stepped forward and said. "All this breed, your highnesses." He bowed and stepped back. Caleb nodded his head in gratitude.

"Speak, demon," Caleb ordered the monster. It had an ugly face and sharp white teeth grinning straight at me.

"You are far too late, your highness" the monster croaked mockingly. Its voice was like jagged rocks rubbing against each other, only becoming sharper with every word. "She's gone. There's nothing you can do to stop Dominick from breaking the curse." There was that name again, and mentioned with the curse. Who was she? Annie? I sure hoped not, but I had a pit in my stomach. This was all my fault. If I would have just hidden in a closet like everyone else would have, we would all be safe, enjoying Christmas.

"Da(r)n it, Adam!" Caleb yelled. "This is why we don't talk about breaking curses!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think anyone could hear us!" I heard their conversation, and there was no one else around. This wasn't Adam's fault. I wasn't eager to admit this, though. I planned to tell him when everything calmed down a bit. How did they figure it out, whoever they are? And what is the curse? Is it even broken, or is this Dominick just going off of a rumor?

"They probably didn't. Sorry, I'm just overreacting. Someone in the court must have seen-" he paused and looked at me, not wanting to reveal anything. "Something." This just made me more curious and furious that I had no idea what was going on. I didn't know if I should ask for an explanation or just let them do what they needed to solve whatever crisis they were dealing with. I should have let them be, but Caleb just deliberately kept information from me. I was angry and needed answers.

"What is going on!?" I interjected. Caleb and Adam looked at me like I was a helpless animal.

"Adam, get her back to earth right now. I do not care what portal you use, just get her as far away from here as possible!" He yelled with the stress of his duties pouring out of his mouth.

"I'm not leaving until I get some answers!" I was angry, no furious. I felt like I was being controlled, and I hated it. Adam must have sensed this and immediately gave me what I wanted.

"The king of our enemies, the ones who want to abduct more children, thinks that Annie can break his curse, so he ordered an attack on the palace to take her." My heart started beating faster. I was just angry. Angry that even with this explanation, there was still so much I didn't know. Angry that my best friend was taken by a horde of monsters. Angry that there was nothing I could do about it.

"Well, can she?"

"No," Caleb said calmly, or at least calmer than he was before. "But you can."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter," Adam continued. "We just need to get you back to earth before Dominick realizes that he took the wrong girl."

"I'm not just going to leave here her in the hands of an evil king who thinks that she is me!" And I wasn't. No matter what Adam said, no matter what Adam did, I was not leaving this world without Annie. I didn't care about my parents and the police anymore. This was all my fault, and I was determined to fix it.

Adam walked closer to me. "Belle, you are in terrible danger."

"I think Annie is in more immediate danger than I am." Adam looked exasperated. He knew that I wouldn't back down, but he needed me to. I wasn't budging, not this time.

"We are wasting time!" Caleb interjected. "She won't be safer on Earth anyway! She'll never be safe until Dominick is dead." This scared me a little, but I couldn't let it stop me. I had to let it propel me to fight for my safety, fight for my normal back.

"What'll happen to her when she gets to his palace?" I walked over to Caleb. He seemed to be more on my side than Adam was.

He was reluctant to answer. "Dominick will kill her the second he realizes she can't help him."

"More of a reason for us to stop arguing and for me to stay." I didn't have the strongest argument, but I was going with it. I needed to get through this conflict, and fast, or I would have to go back home alone. "With me here, Annie is leverage, not dead weight."

"I hate to say it," Caleb commented, "but she is right." Adam shook his head.

"Do you really want to put her in the middle of that?" he screamed. "If she breaks the curse, the world will be chaos again and he'll kill both of them just to spite us!"

"I won't let that happen," Caleb started. "And I know you'll do everything to keep them safe as well."

"But-"

"Stop!" Caleb was through waiting, and so was I. "We don't have time to argue! If we don't go now, Annie will be dead and Dominick will not hesitate to send monsters for her. My word is final. We leave now." I followed him out the doors, and Adam had no choice but to follow.

"She's not coming with us, is she?" Adam asked. Of course I was going. Did he really think that after that, I would just hang out in the castle for a few days?

"Do you really want her here, where we know there is one of Dominick's informants? Where he is sure to send every monster he has to attack?"

"I suppose not..." He really did not want me to come.

"I'm coming too," Gustav said, running after us.

"No," Caleb said firmly. "We will travel faster just the three of us."

"But I know these woods much better than he does, probably both of you."

"Perhaps, but he has a greater incentive. He knows the girls better." I was somewhat glad that Gustav was finally being told no, that he was finally not good enough for something. He needed it.

"I know the girls very well!"

"What's my name?"

"You never did tell me that, did you?"

"You're not coming, and we don't have time for this."

"I'll miss you."

"The feeling is sadly not mutual," I said as I ran towards the stables with Adam and Caleb. I might have missed him a little bit, but I could definitely live without him for a few days. We reached the stables, and by the time we got there, I was completely out of breath. Maybe it wasn't the best idea coming.

"I suppose you don't know how to ride?" Caleb asked me.

"A horse? No. Aren't we taking a car, or a sleigh, or a carriage, or whatever you people use here?"

"There's no time to prepare one," Adam said as he saddled one of the horses.

"Can't you just summon one like you did earlier?" He looked at me for a moment, breaking from dealing with the horse. He laughed a bit.

"It doesn't work like that." Then he was back to work. I suppose that was all he could give me at the moment, which was ok. We were all a little panicked, and I would have to live with limited knowledge for a while. I hoped this journey would give me the answers I so desperately wanted.

Caleb mounted his horse, and Adam handed me something. It took me a second to realize that it was a sheathed sword. "What is this for?"

"The road isn't going to be smooth, and we are venturing into monster territory." I didn't look convinced. "Just take it."

"I don't know how to use it." Adam looked at me like we didn't have time for this, and I knew we really didn't.

"Remember the game we played at the party? It's just like that. You beat me then, so you can't be that bad."

"No," I objected. "That was a video game, this is a deadly piece of metal. And I had no idea what I was doing then."

"Well, you have no idea what you're doing now either, so it should be pretty similar." He smiled a little bit, and I was sure he was thinking that if I looked ridiculous then, I would only look more ridiculous with the real deal. I reluctantly took it. "It goes around your waist, like a belt."

"I know!" I slipped it over my head and onto my waist. I tried to tighten it, but the buckle was unlike what I expected. Adam laughed and tightened it for me. It felt nice to have his warm hands around my waist, especially in that cold winter wind. The sword felt awkward and clunky on my hip, but I tried to ignore it.

Wasting no time, Adam jumped on his horse and offered me a hand. I struggled to get on. Wearing the same long dress, I had to sit side saddle, making me feel very unstable. I had ridden horses before, but they were ponies trained specifically to carry children, and they slowly walked a few feet around a fence on flat ground. These horses were trained for battle, carrying huge men, and galloped at full speed through the bumpy forest and whatever "monster territory" was.

I clung onto Adam as tight as I could, first because I felt very unstable, second because I needed his warmth, and third because he made me feel safe. It felt good, being close to him, but Gaston's words rung in my head. He can never love you. Somehow, I knew it was true.

I had so many questions that maybe just couldn't be answered. "Hey, Adam?"

"Yeah?" He was half concentrated on me, half concentrated on the path ahead of him. We were on rough terrain, and Adam was doing his best to keep the ride as smooth as possible.

"What's the curse?"

"It's not important." Of course. No answers. Why was I not surprised.

"How did you know I could break it?" He sighed.

"That's not important either." I could tell he wanted to tell me, but something was stopping him. I thought if I kept asking, he might eventually tell me, but I didn't ask. He would tell me when it became important, and that's all that mattered. It frustrated me greatly, but I couldn't do anything about it. I could, but I didn't want to. But I did, and it was killing me.

It was dark out, and the farther we traveled, the darker it seemed to get. The trees were no longer illuminated. Their leaves were just leaves, plain and green. Our only light was the stars, and they were masked by the tree tops. There was no moon, and I didn't know if it was just a new moon or if this world just didn't have a moon. I wondered if it didn't have a moon if it had a sun. I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to keep pestering Adam. This time it really wasn't important. I would figure it out in the morning, if we survived until then.

It was late, and I was tired. Tired from exams, tired from the party, tired from the whole the life you know and love is a lie realization. This might be a little harsh categorization, but I didn't care. I just wanted to sleep. I tightened my grip on Adam and planted my chin on his shoulder, hoping that I could sleep without falling off.

"Don't fall asleep," Adam ordered. "You will fall off. Trust me."

"Alright," I grunted. I really wanted to sleep, but I suppose I did volunteer for this. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be?" he asked. He truly didn't know, which reassured me that he came to terms with Caleb's decision.

"Because I made you take me to save Annie." He paused, thinking carefully on his answer. He wanted to tell me the truth, for once.

"Somewhat. I really didn't want you involved with this war. I'm not even supposed to be in it. I never wanted you right in the line of fire, and you jumped into it without knowing anything about it. But I know you were only doing it because you care about your friends and you would do anything for them. You wouldn't be you if you didn't"

"Thanks."

"For what?" I thought for a second. For a lot is what I wanted to say, but I knew I needed to say more.

"For understanding, for finally being honest, for protecting me."

"I know I may portray this place as terrible and dangerous, but it isn't really that bad. Caleb and I know what we're doing, and everyone is going to be ok." Since they were born, the brothers were put in the middle of this war. They were probably brought up learning how to fight. I never questioned why Adam was so good at that video game. And he learned all of this by the time he was ten.

"You two must be close." They didn't seem it at first, but how could they not be. "It must have been hard to leave him."

"It wasn't too bad. We really weren't ever close. I'm just glad we have the chance to be now."

"What do you mean?" He sighed again. I prepared for him to dodge another question.

"It's not important." Of course. It seemed to pain him to have to say that, almost as much as it pained me to hear it."I'm sorry I keep saying that. I'm sorry I can't give you the answers you deserve. You have more than a right to be angry, and you're being so, I don't know, perfect about it." Perfect? I definitely would not classify my reaction as perfect, but if he wanted to see me like that, I was not going to argue.

"I'm good at hiding my feelings."

"You don't have to be." That was exactly what I wanted to hear, but I knew it was just a lie. He might believe it, and I might for a second, but that statement can never be true, not for me. And at that moment, I realized I was just as bad as he was, just in a more subtle way.

"Yeah, I do." I put my chin back on his shoulder in defeat. I had only been here a few hours. It could still just be a dream. Considering how tired I was, this wasn't too unlikely. I probably just fell asleep under that bed, and no one has found me yet. Soon they will, and I will wake up. Things like this don't happen to people like me. But how do you wake up from a dream like this? Is it even a nightmare?

Before I got too deep into my thoughts, I heard Adam scream, "Really? We haven't even entered monster territory yet!"

I was somewhat disoriented by the sudden stopping of the horse, and it took me a moment to adjust. Adam was already off the horse. I did the same and drew my sword. A few feet in front of me I saw Caleb on the ground next to his horse, randomly kicking to get onto its feet. It wasn't until Adam was already charging into battle that I noticed the heard of... things... running towards us.

**A/N Thanks for reading! I was so sad to say goodbye to Gaston in this chapter. He was my favorite character to write. He may be a little wittier than he should be, but I like him that way, and people are supposed to like him, right? Don't worry, he'll make another appearance later. Things will speed up soon, I promise! I know I said that last chapter was the end of nothing happening, but that wasn't entirely true. Sorry. I hope you are enjoying it!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

They were much different than the first monster that I met. They looked crueler, like they were designed to kill. They were about four feet tall and alternated running on two limbs to four, depending on what was in their way. Either way they moved, they did with speed and severity. Their arms and legs were long and muscular, but also very bony. Their muddy tan skin was smooth, like a baby's. They had no head, and no face, but their hands and feet were covered with teeth-like spikes.

They were charging at us, ripping apart all the shrubbery in their path. I tried to approximate their numbers, but they were moving too fast and I couldn't really concentrate. I debated whether to jump in and start fighting or just stand back and stay out of Adam's and Caleb's way. I decided on the latter, but the monsters did not agree with my decision. There were too many of them, all craving bloodshed.

I thought I would go for the smaller, weaker ones, but in the chaos, I couldn't pick my opponent. I just had to fight whatever was closest to me. I thought about the video game and how I just randomly swung around the sword. That did win me every round, and against Adam, but I didn't that strategy would cut it here. Luckily, the monsters used my strategy and just randomly clawed wherever they could. If I could just stay away from their claws, I would be ok. I looked to Adam and Caleb to see what they were doing so I could copy their movements, but I needed to concentrate on not getting killed.

I decided to cut off the limbs. This way, they would have a harder time attacking me. They attacked on all four limbs, but they might have still been able to attack on two. If I could cut off one of the legs, they would be off balance, maybe off balance enough to stop attacking. I ended up just cutting off whatever was closest to me because it was the only thing I could get to.

I cut into the first one's left arm and was pleasantly surprised. It was fairly easy to cut through. The muscle was soft, and the bone did not span the entire arm. I didn't understand exactly how that worked, but I didn't question it. It only made it easier for me to win the fight. After the limb was gone, the monster just backed down. It looked very unstable, even though most of its weight was balanced over its legs, which were still intact. I guessed the pain was just too much for it to handle.

I turned around and cut off one of the legs of another monster. This did seem to be more effective. The stump where the leg used to be fell to the ground, and the monster struggled to move. I couldn't watch it to make sure it was truly done fighting because there were too many more that definitely were not. I slashed off another monster's arms. The pile of monsters handicapped by me and killed by Adam and Caleb was growing. It was getting hard to navigate the battlefield.

My shoes and dress were covered with blood and starting to get heavier. I considered going back to kill those that I already fought to stop their movement, but I didn't know what to aim for and I didn't have time. The heard was thinning, but there were still so many more. A larger one charged at me, and I swung at its arm. However, I missed, aiming a little lower, causing me to hit bone that I could not as easily cut through. I pulled out my sword to slash again, a little higher. By the time I swung my sword back around, the monster was on top of me, knocking me into the ground.

The arm I cut into looked weak, and was bleeding badly. It's other arm was unscathed. Its claws were digging into my arm, causing me to scream in pain. I dropped my sword when I fell, and I was pinned down by the weight of the monster. I would have to move the second that it released my arm and get to my sword. It was only about three feet away, so I just needed to lean over. It was closer to its injured arm, so I had the advantage, if you could call it that.

The monster released my arm, probably so it could make a more lethal blow. I only had seconds. I hoped that in moving, I was dodging its other claw. I grabbed the sword and swung at the monster without delay. I wasn't dead yet, so I guessed that I had moved faster than the monster. When I expected the sword to collide with the flesh of the monster, it only hit air. I was disoriented for a second, then saw Adam pull his sword out of the carcass of the monster that I was fighting. I stuck my sword into the ground and pulled myself up on it. I was even more covered in blood, a mixture of mine and the monsters I injured.

"Are you alright?" Adam asked me. He walked towards me. I looked around and saw Caleb a few feet away, cleaning off his sword on the stomach of a dead monster.

"Never been better," I replied, trying to get my footing around all of the carcasses scattered on the forest floor.

"Regretting coming yet?" Caleb asked, walking towards us.

"I'm not scared off that easily," I lied. Honestly, I was regretting coming a little. I had no idea what I was getting into, and I didn't know how much more of this I could have taken.

"Good," Adam responded, "Because there is much worse to come." I didn't know how it could get much worse than that. I reached up to hold my arm, and could feel the deep gashes. Blood was pouring out and I was starting to get lightheaded. I realized I could die from this. I could die from one little scratch. Maybe it wasn't that small, but it didn't immediately seem like it could be life threatening.

It hurt more than anything I had ever been through. The sharp pain I felt when the monster first dug into my skin was mimicked every second by the flowing blood irritating the torn strips of skin. I couldn't show this pain, though. I couldn't show any weakness.

Adam walked over to his horse, which was somehow still alive and here. I supposed they were trained for this kind of battle and probably ran away the second we got off of them. He reached into a bag attached to the saddle and pulled out a small roll of bandages. He tore off a long portion and neatly tucked the rest of the roll back into the bag. He walked back over to me.

"Hold out your arm," Adam ordered. I obeyed. He looked over to Caleb, who waved his hand. I suddenly felt cleaner and looked down at my dress. It was as green and as clean as it was when I first put it on. The blood was gone on all of us, except for that gushing out of my arm.

"How did you?" I asked, very surprised. Adam smiled as he gently wrapped the bandage around my wound.

"We will explain later," Caleb said as he brought our horses over. We were still on a time sensitive task. If these attacks kept happening, Annie would be at Dominick's castle for hours before we could arrive. We needed to get moving now.

"Thanks," I whispered to Adam as he finished wrapping my wound.

"You're welcome," he whispered back. "There's pretty powerful medicine infused into it. You should be fully healed by morning." That was good to know. At least I knew that I wouldn't die from that wound.

"Let's go." We all walked over to the horses and got ready to leave. I could see it in Adam and Caleb that they were not looking forward to the rest of the journey. Whatever "monster territory" was, they feared it.

Caleb immediately got on his horse, and Adam paused for a second. "Maybe you should sit in front. Then you could probably get some sleep."

"Is that safe?" I asked. Adam shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out." I thought about it for a second, then realized that I was perfectly fine with falling off of a horse as long as it meant that I would get a few minutes to sleep. He helped me onto the horse and then got on behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and grabbed the reigns. Moments later, we were back to galloping at full speed through the forest.

I didn't know if I actually felt more secure in his arms, or if I was just telling myself that. Holding onto him, my fate was in my hands, but then with him holding on to me it was in his. I trusted him to not let me fall, but I knew there were some things that he could do little to protect me from. Falling off of a horse seemed like one of those things.

"Thanks for not letting me die," I told him.

"I told you I know what I'm doing," he reminded me.

"Yes you did." I relaxed in his arms. I remembered what Caleb said. She'll never be safe until Dominick is dead. I sure felt safe. As long as I was with Adam, I knew I would be ok. The worst thing that could have happened to me was falling off a horse, and I could deal with that.

"So how did Caleb do that?" I thought Adam would start to get annoyed by all my questions, but he seemed amused.

"Remember when I summoned the sleigh?" he asked. I nodded, then remembered that he couldn't see me.

"Of course."

"Well," he started, then paused a moment. "I might have not have summoned it. I'm not that powerful, especially since I've been gone so long. It was the trees just helping me out. They're infused with magic. You probably noticed they didn't look like ordinary trees." I remembered the beauty of the trees illuminating the snowy forest. I guess it made some sense, if sense even existed here.

"So why did you clap?" He laughed.

"Just for dramatic effect. To be honest, I didn't even know the trees would comply with my timing. I just took a risk, and it paid off." I laughed. That sounded like something Adam would do.

I looked up at the trees around us. "What about these trees? They're different."

"I was getting to that!" he scolded mildly. "When you hang out in the forest long enough, the magic kinda rubs off on you and sticks. Dominick's ancestors didn't want anyone more powerful than them, so they chopped down all of the trees and planted Earth trees."

"Hmm. So why couldn't Caleb just summon a sleigh?" He laughed again. Everything seemed so basic to him, like I shouldn't even need to ask. I should have seen it as condescending, but I didn't. It made everything seem more normal. It wasn't a huge revelation, just a simple, apparent fact.

"It takes a lot of power to do that. Making stuff disappear is simple. Making stuff appear is much more complicated." I supposed this made sense. It's much easier to eat a piece of cake than it is to bake one.

"Can you do anything like Caleb can?"

"I doubt it. I've been away for too long. Even when I was here, I couldn't do much. My parents never trusted magic." I could see why. If simply spending too much time away from that forest rendered him powerless, it didn't seem like magic could be relied on.

"I guess Caleb doesn't share their beliefs." He seemed like he knew what he was doing.

"No he does not," I could hear Adam's smile through his tone. "Caleb doesn't really like to listen to anyone."

"That probably gets aggravating."

"At times," he responded. "But he's my brother, you know?"

"Yeah." I responded. I was an only child, but I could imagine what it would be like. I was silent for a moment.

"You should probably get some sleep," he told me. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow." I couldn't tell if he really cared or if he just didn't want to answer more questions. I could tell he was not looking forward to this. His first day home after years, and he had to march right into enemy territory. I wondered what he was going to do after all of this was over. Was he going to go back to earth, or stay there with his brother? I knew he wanted to stay on earth for a little longer, but would he be able to leave again?

"You're probably right. Goodnight." I buried my head in his chest trying to get in a comfortable position.

"Goodnight." It may seem fairly easy to fall asleep on a moving horse, but it was far from easy. It was cold, bumpy, and my arm still stung. I didn't say any of this, though. I didn't want to complain, and I knew there was nothing Adam could do about it. I chose to come anyway, and knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park. Plus, it truly wasn't that bad. Adam's body gave me all the warmth I needed, I could get used to the horse, and my arm would be healed by morning. All I needed was to fall asleep, so I did.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The horse came to a sudden halt, waking me. I guessed there was another heard of monsters headed towards us. It felt like I was only asleep for five minutes. My arm no longer hurt, and I didn't want another injury, but I had to face whatever we were dealing with next. I didn't even know if we had entered the mysterious "monster territory" yet. I gave myself a moment to prepare myself, then opened my eyes while reaching for my sword.

To my surprise, I did not see a dark forest filled with attacking monsters. I saw a sunrise from the top of a hill looking down on a grassy plain coated with snow and freckled with various types of foliage, ranging from short shrubs to tall trees. I could see a few monsters wandering around, but they didn't look hostile. In the distance was a large castle. From what I could see, which wasn't much, the castle was very similar to Adam's, but slightly darker, which might have only been due to the distance. Also, it wasn't surrounded by a village like Adam's castle was. I could see a few houses scattered around the plain, but there was not an organized village anywhere I could see.

"How did you sleep?" Adam asked me. I must have slept the whole night long. I wondered if we were attacked, and if we did how I didn't wake up.

"Very well," I responded, "thanks to you." He smiled down at me. I was about a foot shorter than him, and I was slouched, still leaning on his chest. I decided I needed to sit up, sure that this was not too comfortable for him. "Were there no more attacks?"

"Nope," Caleb responded from his horse, which was parked right next to us. "Dominick must have realized that he took the wrong girl and figured that attacking us would only slow us down, delaying the acquisition of what he wants." I wasn't sure how I felt about being referred to as the thing that Dominick wanted, but it was true. I didn't think I was ready for what was about to happen, but I had no idea what it was.

We kept moving down the hill and towards the castle. Some of the monsters looked at us, contemplating attacking, but none actually did anything. I didn't say anything else to Adam; I was too concentrated on taking in the surroundings. It was terrifying, but beautiful. The ride was smoother once we were traveling over only soft snow and grass instead of jagged rock and roots. We stopped in a small tract of forest where we could stop to strategize.

"What's the plan?" I asked as we dismounted our horses.

"Caleb is going to circle the castle to scope out the defenses," Adam started. "We are going to wait here in case they are ready and waiting for us." They must have come up with the plan while I was sleeping. When I thought about it, it seemed reasonable. We wouldn't want all of us to get captured before the rescue mission even started, and Caleb seemed like he could take care of himself in a situation like that.

Caleb and Adam tied their horses to a tree and fed them a small cube of what looked like very dense bread. It must have been some kind of horse food, but I was no horse expert. Caleb left immediately, looking around to make sure that no one could track him to us.

"You hungry?" Adam asked.

"Sort of," I responded. I didn't know how much food we brought, so I didn't want to seem like I needed it. Truthfully, I was starving. I was a breakfast person, and I needed my most important meal of the day. He reached into the bag attached to his saddle and pulled out two apples and a chunk of bread. Not the best breakfast, but I couldn't complain. He ripped the bread in half and walked towards me.

"I have to warn you," Adam said as he handed me an apple and half of the bread, " the apples here are much better than the ones on earth. You won't be able to go back to eating regular apples." I smiled.

"I think I'll risk it," I replied. We sat down next to a tree and I took a bite of the apple. It was much better than any apple that I'd ever had, but that might have just been due to the fact that I was starving. "How's the bread?"

"Not as good as your average loaf of Earth bread," he answered. I looked at it, and it looked pretty good. It looked like fancy artisan bread, covered in grains and a little darker than white bread, but a little lighter than brown bread. I took a bite and it was definitely not up to the quality of the apple.

"Are you cold?" he asked. I was obviously shivering, but I really wasn't that cold. I just tried not to think about it. If Annie were there, she would have told me to pretend that I was a cookie in an oven, and I would call her crazy. I hoped that in a few hours, she would be safe, clinging onto Caleb to stay on his horse. I also hoped she could find a dress slightly warmer than the one I was wearing.

"It's nothing I can't handle," I responded confidentially between bites of apple. He didn't seem to believe me and scooted closer so his shoulder was touching mine. I did feel much warmer instantly. "Did it seem just a little too easy getting here?"

"Would you rather have spent the night fighting off monsters?" he asked. I laughed and elbowed him.

"You know what I mean."

"I think that's kinda the point," Adam explained. "Dominick wants you here. Why would he try to stop you? He just had to leave us alone, and we had no choice but to play into his plans." It made sense, but it got all three of us here safely. I thought Dominick only wanted me there. Adam and Caleb only provided him a way for me to get out without breaking the curse like he wanted. It just seemed easier to attack us, take me, and leave the brothers far away so they couldn't stop me from breaking his curse. I tried not to think about it. For everything that I did know, I was sure that there were ten things that I didn't.

"Adam," I started looking straight into his full, brown eyes. I hated that he was taller than me. I had to look up at him, and he got to look down at me. I felt weak, and I needed to feel strong. "What is the curse?" I didn't know why I was asking. I didn't expect an answer. He hadn't answered before, so why would he then? He sighed, finally ready to tell me. I supposed it was finally important after we arrived at the castle where at least this Dominick thought I was going to break the curse.

"The first thing you should understand is that for different sides, there are different curses." Finally. Some real answers. I looked at him with interest, determined to get the full explanation before he could decide he didn't want to tell me. "The goal was to equal out the sides. My family was made more like the monsters, while Dominick's family was made more human. Now that I think about it, if Dominick were to get our curse, he would be totally unaffected." He laughed a little when he said this. It worried me. Even then, he was still avoiding the answer. It couldn't have been that bad. Did he turn into a werewolf or something every full moon? Did he have to sacrifice a child's soul every night? Was he a cannibal? Was he a zombie? Worst case scenarios flooded my head, which was moving a million miles an hour. But he didn't seem guilty or upset or anything like that. He seemed like he was finally being freed of a burden that he has always carried. He seemed happy that he was finally getting it off of his chest.

However, the world had a funny way of always making sure I was clueless. I heard a loud explosion in the distance and had no choice but to pull my eyes away from his. I didn't want to, but I knew if I didn't, he would. "I am so sorry..." he whispered.

I supposed that I waited that long, and it would be ok to wait a little longer. A small red flare shot up into the air. I was pretty sure they didn't have flare guns here since they didn't even seem to have real guns, so this must have been the work of magic. I remembered how Adam said it was hard to make things appear, but I supposed that flares were easier to produce than sleighs.

"No," Adam whispered with a disappointed tone. Something must have happened to Caleb. He turned back to me and looked at me like I was a lamb waiting to go to my slaughter. He gently grabbed my shoulders and stood up, bringing me with him.

"What was that?" I asked.

"That was our signal. If anything went wrong, he was supposed to shoot a flare, so I guess something went wrong. So now," he paused, sighing, "we go to plan B." He didn't seem very excited about plan B, but at least we had one.

"What's plan B?" I was getting seriously worried. He was looking at me like we would never see each other again.

"I wish you didn't have to do this. We just don't have time to come up with something safer. I should have fought harder against it the second Caleb came up with it." I figured I should be used to Adam stalling by now, but I wasn't. "We have to move quickly now that they know that we are here. Listen, no one knows what you look like. If everything goes well, you should be able to get in and out without anyone noticing. You just need to get Annie and get out. I'll sneak in the back, find Caleb, and make sure no one stops you from getting out." It sounded like a pretty sound plan, except it assumed there would be no conflict, which I was sure would be difficult to avoid.

"It's a pretty big castle," I pointed out, "it's not going to be easy finding Annie." He laughed again like the answer was so simple. This should have infuriated me, but it calmed me a bit. The answer was simple. I could do this.

"Dominick's old fashioned," he started. "She'll be in the tallest room of the tallest tower." Great. Stairs. My favorite. I supposed they didn't have elevators in a place with no electricity. What would a normal person be doing headed up the tallest tower of a castle? Any sane person would avoid that part of the castle. I would either have to come up with a really good lie or run really fast.

"Alright. I guess I should be going then." He kept looking at me, so I had to seem confident. I could do this. I thought it couldn't be that hard.

"Be careful," he said softly. I started taking off the bandage on my arm. I couldn't have anything that would make me stand out. "How is it?" It felt great, and there wasn't even a scar.

"Like it never even happened." It was remarkable. I stood looking at it for several moments before I remembered that there were more important things to think about. I started to take off my sword, but I still had no idea how to work the belt buckle. I looked at Adam, and he laughed. He quickly loosed the buckle and let the sword drop to the ground. I stepped out of the circle the belt made on the ground, putting me much closer to Adam.

"I'll be ok," I whispered.

"I know you will." His voice was saying it, but I knew he didn't believe it. I wasn't sure if I believed it, either. His voice got sterner: "If anything goes wrong, run. Try to get Annie out, but if you know both of you won't be able to escape, leave her. Dominick won't do anything to her until he gets what he wants. We can regroup and go in with a better plan."

"Ok." I knew he was right, but I didn't think I could just leave her after we came this far to get here. I could tell he knew I was lying, but he couldn't do anything about it. . "I'll see you soon." He didn't respond. I walked away overwhelmed, but I couldn't think about that. I had to forget everything that happened. I was now just a lady of Dominick's court returning from a leisurely stroll. Nothing was wrong, except everything was. I was leaving my only safety and running into the most dangerous situation I had ever been in. I was alone, but I had to ignore this after I realized how much I had to fight for. I could not fail. I would not fail.

**A/N Are you getting excited yet? I am. I am so, so sorry for such a short chapter. I can't believe that I stopped it there because there was so little in it. Oh well. I posted two chapters today anyway, and I might post a third. Thank you so much for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I walked through the forest to the castle. I wasn't exactly sure what my plan was. I didn't know what the normal for this castle was. How was I to carry myself? What did women there do. I would have to get a feel for behavior quickly, but I also hoped it would be a while before I ran into anyone to mimic their actions.

The castle gates were not far away from our hiding spot. Luckily, they were wide open, and it looked like people just came and left at will. There was a guard standing at both sides of the gates, but they just nodded to me like I was a normal visitor. I supposed with open doors, there must be too many people coming in and out for the guards to care.

Before I went in, I surveyed the outside of the castle. It looked like the tallest tower protruded from the center of the castle. It looked really, really tall. If I was noticed before getting Annie, there was no way I would be able get all the way up.

I walked into the castle, and noticed it was filled with people and monsters. It looked like the entire ground floor was just a huge market place. I kept walking, keeping my head up. Those dressed nicely like me carried themselves very pompously, so I would have to do the same. I just raised my shoulders and pretended like I belonged there.

"Miss!" a man hissed at me from behind, or at least I thought he was a man. I turned to look at him, trying not to be surprised. With a closer look, I noticed he didn't seem quite human. His skin looked like it was made of scales, but it was still covered in hair. He was hunched over and the proportions of his body weren't quite right. His torso was way to short and his hands were way too long. I walked over anyway, trying to keep blending in.

"Yes?" I addressed him, trying to sound like he was the dirt under my feet, but failing miserably. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice.

"Would you like to purchase some of my fine wares?" He gestured toward a collection of cages filled with small children. I tried not to look disturbed, guessing that this kind of business was encouraged here. I pretended to examine the children to avoid letting him see my face. The children appeared so miserable. They were terribly under fed and probably wearing the clothes they were abducted in, even though they were tattered and covered in dirt and blood. I wanted so badly to help them, but I could do nothing. If I failed and let Dominick use me to break the curse, this would only become more widespread. I caught my breath and turned back to the man.

"How much?" I asked. I had to seem normal, and I guess they looked like good quality for scared children, but I really had no idea what I was doing. If I had money, I could free them, but what would they do alone in a world full of monsters? Their parents were probably dead or forgot them, so even in better circumstances, there really was nothing I could do.

"What do you have?" he asked. I was really hoping for a price so that I could say it was ridiculously high and walk away. I had no idea how to answer this question, so I probably shouldn't.

"Oh!" I exclaimed dramatically, suddenly putting the back of my hand to my forehead. The merchant gave me an interesting look, and I knew this was going to end badly. "I suddenly feel faint. Perhaps I should rest my head for some time. It's probably nothing. I'll come back later with my, um, currency. Yes! I'll just be going now, but I'll be back." I panicked a bit, causing me to act somewhat unrealistically. During the whole speech, I flailed my arms flamboyantly, which might have been too much. The merchant just gaped at me, not buying anything I was saying. I just walked away, hoping he would just go back to selling.

Trying to cover my tracks, I circled around the market place, pretending to look at different stands. I had no idea what most of the goods were, so I tried to not touch anything. There were many dress stands, and I wondered if I should buy a new one. I might be waiting outside in the forest a while before Adam returned with Caleb, so I wouldn't have him to keep me warm. Also, I looked too rich. The last thing I wanted was to be approached by another merchant.

I walked over to the closest dress vendor and quickly picked out one. I didn't have any money, but they seemed to use the barter system, so I figured I could trade the dress I had on. I didn't have time to shop, so I picked out one that looked like it fit randomly. It was a black floor length dress made with a thicker fabric than the one I was wearing. It still had an open back, but it had long sleeves. It was a fairly plain dress, except for the small amount of beading and thread work around the bust.

I found the owner of the stand, who was a short red furry monster that almost looked like a pig. "I absolutely must have this dress!" I started. This time, I was more in control of my actions, and she seemed to react to me well. "You have to take this poor dress I have on and give me this one." The monster seemed very excited to make the deal. The dress I was wearing was obviously much better quality. She waved her hand, and I was suddenly wearing the black dress. She was holding my old dress, so I guessed the exchange was complete. I nodded at her and continued towards the tallest tower. I considered thanking her, but didn't think that was expected here.

As I walked, I realized immediately that I liked it much better. It wasn't as tight fitting as the old one and it had slit on the side, allowing me to move much freer. I thought I would be sure to appreciate this when climbing all those stairs in the tallest tower. It was a V-neck and had a little lower neckline than I would normally wear, but I didn't have time to be picky. I could now see my shoes, which were flats that I brought with me from earth. They didn't wear cloth shoes there, so I needed to get rid of them. Most people didn't wear shoes there at all, so I just ditched mine by a shoe stand and kept moving.

I got to the staircase that I thought went to the tallest tower and started the journey upward. I was surprised that I made it that far, considering that I wasn't being very careful or speedy. I hoped that Adam got in alright, and I had no reason to assume he didn't. Walking up the stairs was fairly easy. I wanted to run, but that might have looked suspicious, so I just leisurely walked. No one who passed me said anything to me, so I assumed everything was ok. It almost seemed too easy, and I wondered if I was just playing right into Dominick's plan again. I decided not to think about it. Even if I was, I had gotten too far into the castle to escape. All I could do was hope that I was just over thinking the situation.

My bare feet were getting tired continuously colliding with the stairs. The stairs were far from smooth. They were made of stone bricks cemented together. I could tell I was making progress by the doors appearing every few minutes, but it still seemed like I was staying still. The stairs ran along around the walls of the tower, but I could not see all the way down, preventing me from measuring my progress. The traffic on the staircase thinned, so I figured I was high enough up that no one else was determined enough to actually get there. I thought that if I did run into anyone, I would need a really good excuse. Luckily, there was no one, because I was too preoccupied wondering if Adam was a cannibal to come up with a good lie.

Eventually, there were no more doors, just a short hallway. There was only one door at the end of it, so I assumed I finally made it. There were no guards outside her room, which I thought was odd. Maybe Dominick was just too arrogant to believe that anyone could get this far without someone noticing. Or maybe I really was doing exactly what I wanted. I guessed I was about to find out.

I walked into the room, and was relieved to see Annie alone standing across the room, staring out a window. I thought I was just being paranoid before, and there really was nothing to worry about, except maybe getting back out. She was still wearing the clothes she wore to the party, which would stick out here. Maybe we could scale down the side of the building. I had always wanted to do that, and it seemed like a perfect time. All I needed to do was find a rope and somehow convince Annie that it was safe, which would have probably been harder than actually scaling the building. I walked into the room, and for a moment Annie didn't notice me.

I walked in farther, then she finally heard me and turned around. She looked different, but I couldn't quite figure out why. She seemed happy to see me, but not as happy as I was expecting. I thought she would be running out the door ready to leave the second I got there.

"We need to get out of here!" I ordered. I should have said hello or something else first, but we didn't have time to catch up. She started walking towards the door, and I followed her. She went slowly, and I thought we should have been moving a little faster, but I wasn't too eager for the trip back down, so I didn't say anything. When she got to the door, she closed it. "What are you doing?"

"We can't leave," she said solemnly. The voice was hers, but she didn't seem like herself. I was very caught off guard. She took a key out of her jean pockets and locked the door. There was something very wrong with her.

"Annie," I started, "we need to get out of here now. Adam and Caleb will be waiting for us." I just stood there, trying to process what was going on. She didn't seem to react to what I was saying. It was like I wasn't even there. It was like she wasn't even there. My words went by her like a gust of wind, swift and meaningless. I couldn't force her down the stairs, but I didn't want to leave her there without trying to convince her to come with me. It didn't seem like I had a choice, though.

"No they won't," she said, walking back over to the window. I felt like she wouldn't listen to me no matter what I said, so I decided to leave her. I would have to come back with Adam and Caleb. They might have been able to help her, or if they couldn't, the three of us would be able to carry her down the stairs. I walked over to her so I could get the key and leave. I didn't want to, but I needed help if I was going to get here out of there. While I was walking over to her, she dropped the key out of the window.

"Annie!" I yelled, running to the window. It was too late. The key had already dropped hundreds of feet down to the roof of the castle. "Why did you do that?" I would have slapped her, but she was my best friend, and she didn't know what she was doing.

"Don't worry," she said calmly. Her face was expressionless, and her eyes looked glassy. They were locked, focused on nothing but the air in front of her. "Now they know you're up here." I was trapped, and there was nothing I could do about it. She turned back to the window. She was hopeless. I looked around for a weapon or anything that could help me escape, but the room was completely empty.

I walked over to the door. I viciously tried to twist the door knob and pull the door open, but the lock held the door shut. I thought about trying to kick it down, but then I realized that my feet were already bleeding and the door swung into the room, so kicking it would have little effect. I examined the hinges and noticed they were pretty close to modern hinges from earth. I tried to pull out the one of the pins holding the hinge together, and it was much looser than I expected. It slipped right out, and I hoped the other two would do the same. I reached up to the top most hinge, and it was a little tighter. I couldn't really see it, but I kept trying to get a grip of it. My fingernails were really short, so I was having a hard time.

I considered asking Annie for help because she had longer fingernails, but I didn't think she would respond. I didn't know how much time I had before someone would come for me. I kept twisting, and eventually I could slide out the top pin. That seemed like the hardest one, so I started to regain hope that I could escape. I went down to the lowest hinge. The door was leaning, tightening the hold the hinge had on the pin. I had to hold the door straight, but it was really heavy and I only had one hand to hold it with. Luckily, the hinge was slightly distorted, allowing the pin to easily slide out, even with the door pushing onto it.

The door was free from the wall, and I wiggled it a little to get it out of my way. The door fell into the hallway outside the room, making a loud crash. The sound echoed through the staircase, and I knew I lost myself valuable time by drawing attention to myself. I couldn't have let this stop me. I just ran down the stairs, hoping that I wouldn't run into anyone until I got near enough to the bottom. Still, no one knew what I looked like. I could still evade most people, if I was lucky enough.

I kept running down and got pretty far before I heard footsteps. There were several people moving fast. I was pretty close to a door, but I didn't know where it led and didn't really want to find out. Even if I did hide in there, they would have heard me open the door. I was sure they knew the castle much better than I did, so I decided to take my chances with whoever was coming. I turned around and pretended like I was going in the opposite direction to make me seem less like someone trying to escape. They got closer, and I turned around, preparing myself to do whatever was necessary to evade capture.

There were five of them, all wearing dark armor with swords drawn. They were young, the oldest only maybe a year older than me. There was no way I could win a fight.

"Oh! Thank goodness!" I exclaimed, walking over to the oldest looking guard. "There was a loud crash, then a mad woman wearing, oh, I'm not sure, an abomination! She was running down the stairs, almost knocking me right over! I think she ran in there." I pointed at the door closest to me. I was overdoing it a little, but the guard luckily didn't seem to care. For all he knew, I was just a foolish, scared girl.

"This way, men!" he ordered the other guards, pointing at the door. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss. You might want to head back down, just in case she's still running around."

"Is she dangerous?" I asked, acting scared.

"She's nothing we can't handle."

"You're so brave," I said, holding his shoulder and blinking really quickly to make myself seem like less of a threat.

"I know." He and the other boys headed into the room I told them I ran into, leaving me alone in the staircase. I was shocked that worked, but didn't question it. I kept moving down the stairs, now going slower just in case I met someone on the way down. However, the staircase was empty. The guards must have told everyone to leave.

I went back to the marketplace so that I could simply walk out of the gates back to the rendezvous point in the forest. With so many people around, I was sure I could blend in. The only people that had seen me were the guards, who may have never realized that I was me. I took a very indirect path through the marketplace to the gates. I didn't want to be seen walking straight out. When I finally got to the gates, thinking that I was as good as gone, they were closed. The castle must have been locked down, and I was hoping it wasn't because of me.

I had to come up with a new escape plan. Maybe I didn't even need to get out. I just needed to find Adam and Caleb before they left or come up with a better plan to get Annie out. All that I really needed to do was avoid getting caught, and I felt like that was possible in the main part of the castle. Even before I came to that world, my castle escape plan always involved dressing like a servant. I didn't know why I had a castle escape plan, but that time presented a perfect opportunity to finally use it.

Maybe I didn't need to be a servant, but I needed a purpose to be in the castle. I needed to get a job. I figured I could help one of the merchants in the marketplace. All I had to do was find a merchant who needed an assistant. I didn't think they had help wanted signs there, and I didn't want to draw attention to myself by asking around, so the task might have been more difficult than it seemed. I wandered around a bit without a plan, then remembered the monsterish man I met when I first came in. He already thought I was odd, so I had nothing to lose. Also, he was close to the gates, so the second they opened I could get out if I decided I needed to. Plus, no one would expect that I would volunteer to sell children. It was a prefect cover.

I walked over to his stand, instantly realizing that my plan was a terrible idea. "Feeling better?" he asked. I didn't know if it was a good thing that he remembered me.

"Much," I replied not very confidently.

"You looked better in the other dress," he told me. I was't sure if that was a compliment or not, but I guessed it was an insult. I didn't know how to respond to that.

"You too," I responded quickly, having no idea what was coming out of my mouth. He looked at me like I was an idiot for a moment, then laughed like we were old friends. It was more like a shrill cackle, but it surprisingly had a warmth to it.

"So what can I do for you?" I was very glad when he changed the subject, getting to business.

"I figured I could take one of your fine wares in exchange for my wonderful sales skills." He paused for a moment, considering my offer.

"I have been looking for an assistant," he hissed cheerfully. "These things sell too fast for a one man operation. Maybe if this arrangement works well, it could become more permanent." This was good. This was my way into castle life.

"Sounds good! When do I start?"

"Right away!" he exclaimed jollily, handing me a bucket. "The wares need feeding." I had a feeling I would not enjoy my job very much.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It didn't make me very comfortable referring to the children as wares. They were human beings, not socks. I looked at the bucket, which was filled with bread. I remembered the bitter taste of the bread, and felt terrible handing it to the kids. They couldn't live off of bread, but that's what they got. One of the smaller ones wouldn't accept it.

"You need to eat," I told him. He was maybe four and was missing one of his front teeth. He had curly blonde hair that stuck out in every direction, and was wearing firetruck pajamas.

"But its nasty," he replied. These kids were all used to earth bread, and the bread in the bucket was a huge step down.

"I know, but you have to eat it anyway." He just shook his head. He was already much skinnier than he should have been.

"I'll take it," the boy next to him said. I laughed and handed him a piece of bread. I had to keep moving, so I put the bread at the bottom of his cage and went to the next one. I put the bucket behind the cages and went back to the front of the stand. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. It looked like there were more guards circling the floor, more than likely looking for me.

I looked up and saw a man standing on a balcony on what I guessed was the second floor. The ceiling of the first floor was considerably higher than most buildings, but I supposed with all of the activity down there, it was necessary. A set of guards approached him, then they all headed away from the balcony. I guessed that he was Dominick, but he was too far away for me to tell. He knew that I was here, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he would find me.

There were a lot of people in the marketplace, though, and I was hiding pretty well. I knew that before when I had no idea what I was doing it turned out pretty well for me, so I thought maybe those results would carry over to that situation, because the one thing that I was sure of was that I truly had no idea what I was doing.

Time passed and I didn't see who I guessed was Dominick on the balcony again, but I didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. Eventually Adam would find me, and we could come up with a plan. I just needed to keep telling myself that it would all be ok, even if I didn't believe it. If Dominick did find me, I thought it couldn't be that bad. I honestly didn't know how to break the curse, so I was basically worthless, yet in a position that he could not just kill me.

My job was pretty easy. I just stood there, pretending to look like I belonged there. Children weren't really a popular item, and we were away from the most crowded parts of the market. Every now and then a guard would pass by the stand, but moved on seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hey," my new boss yelled. "Do me a favor and run to the kitchen and get me a sandwich. Get something for yourself, too." He threw me a small block of a surprisingly light material. I nodded and headed off into the market. I didn't really know where the kitchen was, but I was sure I would figure it out. I was getting pretty hungry. All I had for breakfast was half an apple and a bite of sour bread, but I supposed I didn't have it as bad as many others here.

I walked through the crowd, trying not to draw attention to myself, which meant no asking for directions. Guards were everywhere, and I had to blend in. I walked past the stall of the monster that sold me my dress and noticed something odd. Seven or so guards were grouped around her, almost looking like they were interrogating her. I went up to a rack of dresses, trying to look like I was shopping, then started walking the other way.

Hopefully they just all had girlfriends who all wanted a new dress, and weren't on to me. I needed to ditch the dress I was wearing. The merchant would be able to describe the dress it sold me, and I would be caught too soon. I assumed the block my employer gave me was a form of currency, so I could get something new. Hopefully. On earth, the cost of two sandwiches is nowhere near the cost of a dress, but maybe here that was different, and my employer was expecting change. I just couldn't buy it from anyone close to its stall. If I did use this money for something other than sandwiches, I realized I would have to quit my job, or rather just not show my face around there again. If I wanted to leave anytime soon, I couldn't go out the main entrance, but it probably wouldn't have been opened anytime soon anyway. Or at least until I was captured.

I needed a new plan, and I started to create one. Kind of. Phase one was to get a new dress. I would probably have to trade the dress I had on and give up my sandwich budget to get something decent quickly. Phase two was to pretend to be a servant in the kitchen so that I could steal some food. I knew I might have had to skip this phase if the guards were closing in, but it would make phase four easier. Phase three was to convince a guard that someone else was me. If I could find one of the guards that I saw on the staircase, I could probably convince them that I saw the "intruder" again. This was risky because they might already know that I tricked them, but I could always try. Phase four was to exit out of the open gates once the person Dominick was looking for was captured. If I got the opportunity to do phase 2, I could give my employer a sandwich, avoiding him drawing attention to me. If this worked, I would get out with only a few people actually knowing what I looked like.

I kept moving away from the stall with the guards, stopping to act like I was shopping the whole way. I noticed the guards were still talking to the merchant, and guards looking for me would probably be in more of a hurry to find me.

I started waking faster again, certain that I was safe, at least for that moment. I was very wrong. As I took a step, I could feel my dress tighten and become much lighter. I looked down at myself and saw that I was wearing my old green dress. I wasn't sure what happened and didn't really want to know, but I slowly turned around anyway. I was greeted with a pair of cold, black eyes and a cunning, confident smile.

Before I could react, I found myself alone in a smaller room ornately decorated. Barely taking in my surroundings, I ran towards the doors, instinctively knowing I had to get away. Before I could, several guards began pouring into the room, preventing my escape. I turned around to see the man with black eyes watching me in victory. Dominick. He was definitely not what I expected. He was in his late twenties, and had straight dirty blonde hair framing his face almost handsomely.

"There's no need to be afraid," he said calmly, arrogantly. "I don't know what lies you have been fed about me, but I'm really not that bad." The tone of his voice told me that he was a lot worse than Adam made him out to be.

"What did you do to Annie?" I asked, unsure of what to do in a situation like this. I was half actually curious and half just trying to stall to stay off of the subject of curses.

"Just simple mind control. Had to be done. But don't worry," he said, stepping closer to me. I stepped away. "It will all be undone when I return her to your world."

I looked puzzled. "You're sending her back?"

"Of course!" he said, almost sincerely. "As soon as you break my curse. You, your friend, Adam, all of you can return to your boring lives far far away from here." There was no way I believed him, but he seemed to be telling the truth.

"You're lying."

"Why would I lie? I'm going to get what I want no matter what happens to you. I just want to relieve you of the suffering my enemies have caused you by bringing you here." This guy was ridiculous. Did he really expect me to believe a word he said? "The sooner you break my curse, the sooner you'll be home again."

"What even is the curse?" I asked, conditioned not to expect a real answer. I felt weak, and he was doing everything he could to keep me like that. I hoped the little knowledge I would gain would distract me from my fragility.

"Poor child," he said, laughing a little. "You really shouldn't choose to believe in the brothers when they insist on keeping you ignorant like this." He had a point. Dominick took a deep breath, then started again, "The fools you choose to trust were 'cursed' to make them more like monsters. If you ask me, it's more of a blessing than a curse, but believe what you will."

"What exactly were they cursed, or blessed, with?" I asked, hoping I would finally get specifics. He seemed willing enough to divulge their secrets.

He laughed. "I think you know," he said, smiling and looking straight at me. "You just don't want to let yourself believe it." I knew it. They were cannibals. It made sense, well almost. It was a curse to them because they were decent enough people to realize that eating people isn't nice. However, to Dominick, this just means they have easier access to a source of food. Somehow, this still didn't completely seem right. Maybe I was missing something obvious.

"Anyway," he hummed, "None of that matters at the moment. I am the only one who is actually cursed. That (w)itch prevented me from killing anyone. Anything. You can't imagine how annoying that is."

"I'm sure it's been complete agony," I said sarcastically.

"Well, luckily soon I'll be relieved of my suffering." A grin crept across his face, making me nauseous.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to break your curse." I really was not sorry. I needed a plan. I needed to get away, but for some reason all I could think of was Adam. All I could think of was my head on his warm chest and his arms wrapped around me as we rode to what was soon to be the worst place for us to be. I needed to focus. Focus.

He walked over to what I guessed was his throne and grabbed a small box. He turned around, still grinning. "Then it's a good thing I do." He opened the box and grabbed a small dagger. The hilt was ornately bejeweled, and the blade was a crooked dark grey metal. He dropped the box, and it vanished in mid air while it was falling. He gently pressed the tip of the dagger into his forearm, coating it with a small amount of blood. He moved closer slowly with blood lightly dripping down his arm.

"Pick a guard, any guard," he said as he handed me the dagger. For some reason I took it, the immediately regretted it. "All you have to do is kill one of them, then you and your friend can go home." What? Kill someone? I couldn't kill someone if it was for a good cause, and that was definitely not a good cause.

"I can't just kill someone!"

"You can, and you will." He spoke calmly, too calmly for my liking. "It's easy. The blade is poisoned, so whoever you choose will die quickly and painlessly. You don't even have to go for a lethal blow. Even a prick of the finger will kill in seconds."

"But you just stabbed yourself..."

"My blood is the poison." Oh snap. "It almost makes sense if you think about it. By you stabbing someone with that dagger, my blood kills someone, technically meaning I killed someone. Apparently if you break the curse once, it is forever broken."

"Then why do you need me to do it?"

"I don't know. I've tried it several times before, and it hasn't worked. I'm still not sure you even can. But since you've broken a curse before, it's my best shot." I paused for a moment. I couldn't do this. Did he seriously think I would just kill a person? "But don't worry. Even if I'm wrong and you can't help me, I'll still let you go home in peace."

I thought that that was a really good time for Adam and Caleb to burst in and get me out of there. A part of me thought that they were standing right outside the door, waiting for the most dramatic time to pop in.

"It's ok if you're a little reluctant." That was an understatement. "I anticipated this and planned for it. You just need a little... push." He signaled two guards and they left the throne room. So much for my waiting outside the door theory.

"What are you doing?" They came back in carrying a man who was struggling greatly to get away. They threw him down on the ground. One of the guards pulled out a sword. The guard looked to Dominick, who nodded, signaling the guard to cut the man's back with the sword. The man began screaming in agony and spasticly moving on the floor.

"You can't kill someone living, but you might be able to kill someone already dead. That sword was laced with another poison, one that doesn't kill as quickly or painlessly. He can die after hours of this torture, or immediately with one cut." I couldn't let that continue, but I couldn't give Dominick he power to kill, especially after seeing how evil he really was. Although, he was one man, and how many people could one man kill? He was a king, how much battle time could he really get? What's the difference between telling a guard to kill someone and killing that person yourself? It couldn't be that bad.

"In ten minutes, you can be back home, with this poor man in peace. All you have to do is make one cut."

"I-I can't do it," I said. Although it didn't seem like the consequences would be that bad, my gut was telling me not to do it, and I had no choice but to listen to it.

"That's ok," he said too calmly, once again. He wasn't kidding when he said he had planned for this. "I suppose the things you have to work for are better anyway. I just have to work harder to supply you the proper motivation." Three more guards burst through the door carrying Caleb. He did not look good. He was obviously beaten severely, and he was still covered in blood.

"I'll make this super simple," Dominick said, his voice a shade happier at seeing his enemy's suffering. "Either you kill that poor man, or my men kill Caleb." There was no good choice, but I couldn't let Caleb die. Adam would never forgive me. Well, he wouldn't either way, but it would have been nice for him to have his brother when we had to fix the destruction I was sure Dominick was about to cause.

"Don't do it," Caleb begged. He could barely gather enough energy to say the sentence. I slowly knelt down next to the man, who was still screaming in pain, squirming on the floor. I moved the dagger closer to him, trying to decide where to stab. I still didn't know if I could do it, but I knew I had to. There was no one left to save me.

Seconds before I could plunge the dagger into the man, I heard the doors burst open another time. I turned my head to see Adam entering the throne room. A wave of relief fell over me. Everything was ok again. I didn't have to kill anyone. But before I could continue my celebration, I felt the man on the ground move with a greater momentum than his usual seizing. I turned back to him to see that he had sat up to impale himself on the dagger in my hand. He had killed himself.

"No!" the three of us yelled in disbelief. I let go of the dagger resting the in the dead man's body.

"Does that count?" Caleb asked. "Technically, she didn't kill him."

"I guess we'll have to find out," Dominick said. By the look of his smile, he was pretty sure that it counted. It was more than the arrogant smile he had before. It was a smile of a complete victory. He quickly unsheathed his sword and move across the throne room. Before I could process what happened, he cleanly severed Caleb's head, causing his lifeless body to fall to the ground beneath him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I kind of blacked out after this. I don't remember much; it all happened so fast. I think I was in shock. I faintly remember running forward, but being pulled back by the rough hands of guards before I could get to him. I wasn't really sure what I would have done if I had actually gotten to him. It just seemed like the thing to do. I barely knew the guy, but seeing his death destroyed me. I had never witnessed death before, and it was an eye opening experience. Adam looked absolutely terrible. The guards started pulling me out of the throne room, and Dominick ordered Adam to be taken to the dungeon.

A few moments later, I arrived in a small bedroom a little lower in the tower the throne room was located. I was alone, but sure the guards were still outside the door, preventing me from escaping. I examined the room, but didn't really see anything, mostly because I was still pretty shaken up. I didn't want to process the past five minutes, but I knew I had to eventually. I plopped down on the bed and waited a few minutes, hoping that I would wake up, but I knew that wouldn't happen. I didn't think that I was dreaming anymore. Now what?

I needed to grow up and stop being so naive. Before Caleb's death, I was able to easily convince myself that everything would be alright. Obviously, everything was not going to be ok. Adam's brother was killed right in front of him, and it was all because of me. What was stopping Dominick from killing Annie or Adam or me? Nothing. I was helpless. I had to stop waiting for Adam to save me and actually do something. I determined to get out, and get all of us back safely, no matter what it took.

I sat on the bed for another few moments, just continuing to think of the same thoughts. Soon, I heard a knock on the door and sat up. I thought I probably should go open the door, but knew that no one friendly would be on the other side. Before I made the decision whether or not to open it, Dominick came in, and I was immediately filled with hate.

"Where's Adam?" I asked. I wasn't expecting a helpful answer and knew he would be in the dungeon if he was still alive. I'm not really sure why I asked. Perhaps it was still a part of me hoping that he would come in and rescue me. I had to dismiss this ideology immediately if I wanted to survive, but I didn't know if I could.

"He's safe," Dominick started as he moved closer to me. I backed up in response. "Lucky for you, I need him alive."

"Why?" I asked.

"Politics," he answered plainly. "See, when Caleb's people receive his head, they might get a bit restless. That's where Adam comes in. By publicly swearing his loyalty to me, I might get some support from his people, or at least extinguish their hope."

"What makes you think that Adam would ever swear loyalty to you?" I knew I really shouldn't argue since it was keeping Adam alive, but it just seemed so unlikely. After everything that I had seen of Dominick, I knew he wasn't that terrible at making plans.

"I think Adam will do anything to keep you alive. Never underestimate the power of love." Love? I mean, I would greatly enjoy it if Adam loved me, but that just wasn't the case. If Adam did keep me alive, it would be out of guilt, not love. I couldn't imagine Adam letting me die, but in this situation, it was entirely possible. Better me than innocent children and his own people. With Caleb gone, he was the sole king of his land, and had duties to his people. I couldn't be as naive to think that he would let them down on account of me. "A tough decision, but I'm sure he'll make the right choice. If it was up to me, I would rather have you alive. Who knows what other uses you could have for me. The great curse breaker! Who knows what kind of magical potential you have?"

"What happened to letting us go back to Earth?"

"You will eventually," he lied. "Assuming Adam cooperates, after a few years working for me you could go back. I wouldn't kill you because I might need you again, and I won't want Adam here when he changes his mind and decides to start a revolution." I didn't know why he continued to lie. Of course I wasn't going to believe him. "Just in case you have to die, we'll make good use of the day or two it will take for the news of the death to spread."

Did he honestly think that I would do anything for him? Not that I could do anything. I was just a normal girl. I supposed I probably should be worried, considering the only value of my life was based on speculation and the will of Adam, which would also be useless in a few days. Things weren't looking good. I needed a plan. Maybe I could play into Dominick's plans. He would think that I was just a scared girl doing whatever it takes to keep myself and the man I loved alive. Whoa, did I just refer to Adam as the man I loved. I thought he was hot, and kind, and funny, and strong, and brave, but love? Why did that word keep coming up? I couldn't love him. I couldn't- What I really couldn't do was be distracted by that. I needed to come up with a plan. Pretend to play into Dominick's mutually beneficial friendship plan. Who knows? Maybe I would find something magical about myself. It sure would be helpful. That's what I would do. I would use Dominick to hopefully discover something about myself that I could use against him.

"I think that we could be friends. You can trust me. I've already sent Annie back, just like I promised," he said. I forgot about her. Oops. I hoped he wasn't lying, and that she was really safe. That would just make getting Adam and myself out easier, and at least I knew one of us survived. I guessed he could send a monster to kill her anytime, but I hoped she knew not to sleep in beds. Thinking about it, she probably didn't know anything other than the short summary Adam initially gave us.

I thought carefully about my response. "Even if I wanted to, I don't know how to help you." I had to seem a little reluctant. He did just kill someone, two people actually, in front of me. I didn't think that he would expect me to suddenly be on his side.

"I'm working on that. I have a pretty good source." I didn't know how I felt about this. Maybe I needed a better plan. Earlier I accidentally helped him without meaning to, so what was stopping me from doing that again? Although, I knew I probably didn't have anything to worry about, seeing that I was a normal girl who had no control of any magic. I was just being too hopeful again. I needed to think more practically. Maybe finding Adam wasn't such a bad idea. Yeah, I would sort of be relying on him to save me again, but at least I wouldn't be making the situation worse. "Have you ever noticed anything strange? Anything that you couldn't seem to explain?"

I thought about it. Other than my trip under Adam's bed, not really. "No," I said confidently. I probably would have lied, but this was the truth. "Everything has seemed normal."

"Anything. No matter how little. You probably would have come up with some generic explanation and forgotten about it." I'm sure there were times like this, where I heard a sound that didn't quite seem right, and just said it was the wind or something, but I was pretty sure everyone had experiences like that, an that they meant nothing.

"Nothing that stands out. I mean, if it was something small that I forgot about, why would i think of it now?" I probably sounded genuine, and I was being truthful. I supposed I probably should have lied or something, but there was nothing to lie about. Like I thought, I was just a normal girl.

"Alright. I'll leave you to think. Please tell me if you come up with something," he seemed to have believed me. I thought it probably was good that I could tell the truth, because if I had to lie, I would be worried that he would catch me, and kill me for lying. "Explore the castle if you want. I'll get you if I need you. Oh, and if you do feel like trying to escape, know you won't with my castle security now that they know who you are. If you do somehow manage, you wouldn't survive ten minutes outside by yourself anyway."

And on that cheerful note, he left. It somehow felt good to hear a threat. At least he still wasn't trying to convince me that we can be friends, which I didn't think even he believed. My first plan now seemed terrible. I decided to execute plan B: find Adam and figure out what plan he had. It was against my new philosophy, but it seemed like the best option.

I waited for Dominick to get a little farther away, then left the room. I was surprised not to see any guards outside the door, but supposed that Dominick made it pretty clear that he knew that there was nothing that I could do. I went down to the main level of the castle where the market was. I figured I should stay away from my previous employer, who by then probably realized that I was not coming back with lunch.

Before, I didn't really take time to notice everything in the castle. Maybe if I just observed for a bit, I could come up with a better plan. The dark brick was very ornately decorated, but everything in the market was very cluttered and messy, like no one really appreciated the beauty of the building. Unlike Adam's castle, Dominick's was inhabited by mostly younger people and monsters rather than old men. Walking around, I quickly noticed that I was being watched, mostly not by guards or people that I expected to want to pay attention to me, but by the inhabitants of the castle. They all looked at me like I was a piece of meat, something that I did not feel comfortable with. I figured I should do what I came down there for as soon as possible, before anyone deduced what I was up to.

No one bothered to actually talk to me, which was good for productivity. I was looking for the dungeon, but didn't want to ask anyone, and they didn't have any visible maps or floor plans. I figured it would be underground, so I decided I would just check every staircase on the ground floor going down. The first staircase I found led to the kitchen, which I was promptly kicked out of by the servants. I was glad I didn't go there during my first castle escape plan, because they didn't seem to react well to visiting strangers.

The next door I found led to a wooden door that was locked. A pulled it a few times to make sure that it definitely was not going to open, but no matter how hard I tried, I was not getting into that room. It didn't seem like a dungeon anyway, so I kept looking. On the way up, I ran into a man in his mid forties who stopped and looked at me for a minute. He was kind of creeping me out. I was about to rush past him when he asked, "What are you doing down here?" I wasn't really sure how to respond.

"I was just exploring, and I guess I took a wrong turn," I answered. It wasn't a complete lie. I was slightly intimidated by the man, and I felt bad for being down there, even though I really wasn't doing anything wrong.

"You'll find what you are looking for in the east corner," he whispered as he walked past me. I thought that was very odd. I turned around to ask him what he meant, but he was gone. Was I just imagining him? Maybe I was going crazy. I tried to forget about it and move on. He couldn't have known what I was actually looking for, but I thought that I should probably check the east corner just in case. The problem was that I had no idea which way east was, or if I was even on the right floor.

I figured that a square castle should have four main corners, and I knew that the kitchen was in one, so hopefully I would just have to check the other three. I thought I probably could use the sun or something to figure it out quicker, but I didn't know if it worked the same way where I was.

The first corner I found did not have anything in it, so I moved on to the next. I thought it would be a little easier to search for the corners. The floor was pretty open, but the room was huge, so it took some time to get from one corner to the next. Without shoes, my feet were not happy. Hoping that I was able to sit down, or at least stand still, for an extended period of time soon, I trudged to the next corner, where I found that I was back at the kitchen. I must have gone the wrong way. Ugh.

The next corner approached close enough, and I found a large, ornate stone door that looked like what I would imagine a dungeon to look like. It was framed with stone pillars and a gargoyle head in the top center, so i felt pretty confident I was in the right place. I just hoped that Adam was actually in there, and that he was ok. I pushed the heavy looking door, but it was surprisingly easy to open. I walked in and the door slammed behind me. Looking at it from the inside, you couldn't even tell that there was a door there, probably only because it was so dark.

Continuing into the clean cut stone hallways, I could barely see into the cells with the only light coming from small torches on the walls scattered through the hallways. Most of the cells looked empty, but there may have been things lurking in the shadows past what I could see. Of the cells that looked inhabited, their inhabitants were still, seeming either sleeping or dead. I hoped it was the former.

"Child," a meek voice screeched. I jumped at the sound breaking the silence, and was disappointed that it was one of a woman, not of Adam. I knew I probably shouldn't have, but I turned to where the voice came from with the intention of talking to her.

"Hello?" I asked, trying to determine her exact position. I saw a figure move closer to the door of one of the cells, and also moved closer. The woman was very old, and looked like she should be dead. I wondered whether she was just a dying woman or really a monster. She was chained to the wall and her hands were cuffed together, causing her to struggle to get as close to the bars of the cell as she was.

"Heed my words," she started. "Get out of here while you still can. Forget about Adam. Forget about all of this before you get killed caught up in a war you were never supposed to be in."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I knew you were coming, and hate that I couldn't stop it." Who was this woman? "You have no idea the destruction your presence will cause."

"What can I do? I'm just a normal girl." I think I was trying more to convince myself than the woman.

"Trust me, child. You are far from that." She slid me a small key, and I grabbed it. After I did, I somewhat regretted it. I had no idea what this woman was capable of, and knew I should just leave and find Adam, but something deep inside of me was telling me that I could really trust this woman. I just hoped my instincts were right.

"What is this for?"

"You'll know when you find it." She answered, sort of. "I should probably die now."

"No you shouldn't!"

"Yes I should," she said solemnly. "I need to before Dominick continues to make me feed him information." I remembered him saying that he had a good source, and figured she was it. As much as I didn't want him to have answers, I couldn't just let this woman die. I would have to find a way to get her out too. I thought maybe that's what she wanted, though. She could just be lying in order to make me let her out when she really wished all of us harm. I was conflicted. "I told him how to break the curse, and that's how this whole thing started. I can't let something like that happen again."

"How do you know all of this stuff?"

"I was the one to cast the curse." It made sense, but didn't help me to trust her any more.

"Why?" I asked. I wasn't sure whether anything she said was the truth, but at least she was giving me answers, which is more than I got from anyone else.

"I thought it was the only way to preserve the land. I just ended up postponing the inevitable, though. Now it is your turn to do the same."

"Didn't you just say I should get out of here and forget about all of this?"

"Yes, and you should have, but it is too late now. I was just holding on to false hope that there was still time to keep you out of this." Why did this person care if I was involved or not? I just met her.

"What can I do for Dominick? It can't be that significant? Can it?"

"It's much safer if you don't know." I had a feeling she was done giving me useful answers.

"I think I deserve to know who I am!"

"You are very right," she whispered, reaching behind her back for something. "I just hope you never do." She pulled out a sharp stone, and slit her throat.

"No!" I yelled, but it was too late. She died just like she wanted, and I couldn't do anything about it.

**A/N So sorry I killed someone at the end of the last two chapters! I probably should have put some space between them, but the which wasn't a major character, so you shouldn't be too disappointed. Sorry I waited longer than usual before posting this chapter! I feel like I am uploading chapters too quickly, and people are not seeing all of the chapters I post, just the more recent ones. I don't know if it's a normal thing for chapters 6 and 8 to have a significantly greater number of views than chapters 5 and 7. I would think that chapter 1 would have the most views, followed by chapter two, then chapter 3 with a little less, then chapter four with a little less and so on, but that is not the case. I'll probably come up with a schedule for posting, and I'll probably start posting every Sunday, not counting tomorrow. **

**Thank you so much for reading, and I hope that you are enjoying!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Belle!" I heard Adam yell. He must have heard me, and thought that I was hurt. I tucked the key the witch gave me into my pocket and followed his voice hoping to find him nearby. I hated to leave the body there where it was sure to rot, but there was nothing I could do; she was locked in a cell.

I soon found Adam sitting unrestrained in a similar looking cell. He looked pretty worn, yet just as handsome as always. "Are you ok?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he said frantically. "You need to get out of here now! Dominick is threatening you, and I don't trust him." He looked at me with so much concern, yet I knew there was little that I could do to comfort him.

"I know," I replied. "He told me. But it will all be ok. He won't kill me. He still needs me. There's no way you can bow to him."

"I can't put your life in his hands." He grabbed my hand, instantly filling my body with warmth.

"I'll try to get out, but…"

"You just need to wait a bit," he started, seeming like he had a plan. "When my people come to the castle to see what Dominick thinks will be a demonstration of my loyalty, you just need to get out with one of them." It was a good plan, but I would still have to stay and help Dominick before that happened. I didn't want to think about it.

"Ok," I replied, very unsure. I wanted to tell him everything that Dominick and the witch told me, but I didn't want to worry him. I would be away soon enough, and hopefully nothing happened before then. I looked around the dungeon quickly, noticing that we were alone. "I'm surprised there aren't any guards around."

"They all stay by the entrance. I'm surprised they let you in."

"I must have come in through a different entrance, because there were no guards." It did seem a little easy getting in, but I guessed Dominick wanted me to see him to give him more motivation for obeying.

"I'm pretty sure there is only one entrance."

"There was no one there." He could have been mistaken. This wasn't his castle, so how should he know.

"If there weren't any guards, how did you even find the dungeon?"

"Well, a man told me where to go, but the door kinda jumped out at me. I don't know how I could have missed it."

"It's a plain wooden door," he replied, looking at me like I was crazy.

"It didn't look wooden, and it definitely was not plain," I corrected, remembering the ornate stone door.

"That's odd," he said, looking very confused. "What did the man look like? You know what, it doesn't matter. There just must be a different entrance." Something told me that he hadn't completely accepted this as the truth, but it looked like he had something more important weighing on his mind. "Belle, there are some things that you need to know. Things that I should have told you long ago." I fully agreed with that notion. I just hoped that he would finally tell me these answers before another interruption.

"I'm all ears." I looked up into his big, brown eyes once again. He grabbed my left hand with my right still enclosed in his from earlier. I was glad that I was finally getting answers, but slightly disappointed that we had a layer of rusty bars in between us.

"Where to start…" He seemed nervous yet excited. "By now you know that Dominick's family was cursed with not being able to kill. My family was cursed with something different. Ever since we were cursed, I have not had the ability to love. Anyone. Anything." I breathed deeply, processing what he told me. That's what Gaston meant when he said Adam could never love me. It wasn't that I was from a different world; it wasn't that we just weren't meant to be; it was that he was just incapable of love. This meant that we could never be anything. I tried not to react. I wanted to cry, especially after everything I went through, but I couldn't show weakness. I looked sad anyway. I couldn't stop it. I figured that even after hearing this from someone I hated, I shouldn't look giddy. I just hoped that my sadness came off as sympathy, not disappointment. I was no longer looking him in the eyes; I couldn't. But why would Dominick say that Adam loved me when he knew that he never could? It must have just been a cruel trick giving me false hope.

"When I fell in love with you, I knew that you were the one that could break curses." I reluctantly looked back up to his eyes, which I immediately decided was a terrible decision. What? Oh right, he told me I broke his curse a while ago. He loved me? I broke eye contact again, deep in thought. I was unable to process what he was saying for a moment. What? I didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think. I was excited yet scared, certain yet unsure. He moved his hand from mine to under my chin and slowly began to take back my gaze. Our eyes once again locked, and there was no more hiding my emotions.

I tried to say something, but no words came out. I was unable to think. Before I could regain my senses, he slid his hand onto my cheek and said everything for me: he kissed me, and I kissed him back. I no longer had to think, I no longer had to worry. Nothing else mattered. No more curses, no more monsters, no more evil kings trying to kill and the man I loved. I finally had all the answers I needed. There was still so much that I didn't know, but that didn't matter any more. I was safe as long as I was in his arms. It was just the two of us, and all I had to do was melt in his warmth.

He was simply hypnotic. His hand was soft and gentle on my face, warming me along with his other hand which somehow appeared on my waist. I never wanted the moment to end, and I didn't think I could stop if I tried. I couldn't even tell that there were bars between us. I felt closer to him then than I ever had. After several moments, our lips finally parted, and as soon as my eyes opened, they locked right back in on his.

"I love you," he whispered. I clung onto those three words like they were more crucial than the air I was breathing. I was about to say the same to him when the silence was shattered by a pair of heavy footsteps. No.

"Hey!" I heard a guard yell, causing Adam's arms to retract from me. My paradise was over. I stood up and turned towards the approaching guards. "How did you get in here?"

"Umm," I started, thinking that saying 'I walked in' would not be helpful. Before I could explain any further, I was being escorted out of the dungeon. I gave Adam an apologetic look, and he gave me one back. I really didn't want to leave him, and I knew that after this, it would be harder to get to him. I just hoped I would see him again soon. I tried to conversate with the guards to lighten the mood, but they did not seem to appreciate my efforts. I think I remembered one of them from the first group of guards I met in the tower who was probably not happy with me after that occurrence. They were so stern and serious, making me a little uncomfortable, but there was nothing I could do about it.

We left a different way than I came in, and I saw what Adam meant about it just being a plain door. Soon enough, we were back outside Dominick's throne room. I felt a little scared, like I was getting in trouble, but I didn't really do anything wrong. Yes, I visited Adam, but no one stopped me from doing so, so I didn't know it was a huge crime.

"How exactly did you get into the dungeon past my security?" Dominick asked as I walked, or rather, was lead, into the throne room.

"I went in through the back," I answered. It did not seem like that was the answer that he was looking for.

"There is no back! There's only the one entrance. Stop lying! I have tried to help you, but you have given me nothing in return." What did I do? From my perspective, I was very compliant.

"Look," I started, unsure of how to convince him that I was telling the truth. "I just opened up a door and walked inside. How else would I get in?"

"You must be more proficient in your magic that I initially predicted."

"What!?" This guy was obviously crazy. "I don't know how to use magic! And even if I did, I was only in the magic forest for like ten minutes! There's no way I could have enough power to do anything."

"Not everyone receives their magic from the trees like my foolish rivals. People like you and me are born with it." Why did he just assume that I was the same as him? He had just met me. I suppose what he said about himself made sense, considering that his castle was not surrounded by the magic trees.

"Either way, I still didn't magically enter the dungeon. Or if I did, I didn't cause it." I thought about it a little deeper if I said this. What if I did use magic to create that door, and just didn't realize it. It was exactly what I was picturing it would look like. Although, I figured that something that big and extravagant probably couldn't be done by someone like me with no experience, and if I did, I probably would've feel something. Then I remembered the man on the staircase. He told me exactly where to go, so maybe he created the door. "I met a man right before I found the door who told me where to find it." Dominick looked interested, probably believing me finally after seeing my confusion.

"Can you describe this man?" I didn't really take a close notice, but I had to say something or else he would think I was lying.

"Umm, old." I wasn't starting too strong. "He had a beard and short brown hair. I don't really remember much."

"You don't think it could be-" one of the guards started, but stopped himself.

"I thought he was dead," another guard added.

"There has been more than one sighting," the first one asserted.

"Why would he be helping her so openly?" another asked.

"Enough," Dominick beamed, ending their discussions. "If anyone sees him again, it should be reported to me immediately, and he should be apprehended if possible. Belle, I will have someone stay with you as you wander the castle to make sure he doesn't try anything." Something told me that this stranger was not the only reason that I was going to be watched.

"Who is this guy?" I implored. "Should I be worried?" This guy seemed to be on my side, so I thought I could trust him, but maybe if I made Dominick think that I wanted protection from the mystery man he would trust me a little more.

"If it is who I think it is, then yes." I wasn't concerned about him. Any enemy of Dominick was a friend of mine.

As I just started to think that Dominick was about to let me leave, another guard rushed into the room and said, "The witch is dead!" I almost forgot about her. "She slit her own throat." I wished that Dominick wouldn't have found out so soon because I was sure that he would detect my involvement. Dominick did not look happy, and he turned to me, just glaring with his cold, black eyes.

"What exactly happened while you were in the dungeon?" I didn't want to tell him about my conversation with the witch, but I knew that if I didn't he would probably know that I was lying. I didn't really get much information out of her anyway. She didn't say anything that would change Dominick's opinion of me. I decided to tell him the truth, but changed my mind as the words started coming out of my mouth.

"I just talked to Adam." For the first time since I met Dominick, I felt bad for wanting to lie. I finally had an opportunity to lie to him, and I took it, but it just seemed so unnecessary.

"I know you're lying," he muttered calmly. "I can see it in your eyes."

"I might have seen a woman down there, but she didn't say anything important," I responded carefully.

"I highly doubt that," he countered.

"It was just a mad woman's ramblings," I tried to convince him. "She just said that I need to go back to earth."

"I know there must be more," he demanded.

"There really was nothing else! She told me who she was and how she was feeding you information, but really nothing important." I knew that what I was saying was the truth and I had nothing to hide, but I still felt like I should be lying. I felt like I shouldn't be giving Dominick what he wanted, even though I was sure that the truth was not as exciting as what he would have wanted to hear, and it didn't work out so well the first time. I remembered the key that she gave me in my pocket and knew that I probably shouldn't tell him about it, but it was a minor detail anyway.

"If you have nothing to hide, then why did you lie?" He had a point there. I probably shouldn't have lied, because I just looked like I was holding something back.

"I don't know," I responded. "Because I don't trust you!"

"Well, you better start." That was not likely to happen.

"You have no leverage over me!" I shouldn't have provoked him, but Caleb's murder was still weighing heavy on my mind. I felt bad for letting myself ignore his death until that moment, but it seemed like there were more important things to think about. The procrastinated grief filled me with anger, which would not help me against Dominick.

"I still have Adam," he countered.

"You already said that he was too important to hurt." Dominick couldn't do anything to control me, and he made the mistake of telling me. I finally felt like I had a little power. The only thing that he would do was throw me in the dungeon, which would put me closer to Adam. It was a win-win situation.

"Yes, and he was, but you suddenly became more important. If she had to kill herself to keep me from knowing something about you, then you obviously have something that I need. I'm perfectly fine with having to go to war against Caleb's people if I have to. No matter what you do, I will find a way to get what I want. One way, you will have riches and power, and the other will leave you only with misery. You had better choose wisely." It seemed like his cold eyes were staring right into soul, and I was relieved when his stare shifted to the guards. "Get her out of my sight."

**A/N I am so, so, so, sorry! It has been three months since I promised the next chapter… Oops. It's just so hard to write now when Belle is still so weak and naive. Everything feels so cliche and it's no fun to write. I just want to be done with this section and move on already! It will probably be a while before I post again, but eventually, when it gets to the good part, I will probably update a lot sooner. Thanks for reading, and sorry again!**


End file.
